When You're Strange
by ShinigamiSparda
Summary: Four months later. A new threat, a new journey, a new race, and one very odd individual. UPDATE: A little exposition while another not so sinister plan begins to unfold.
1. Prologue: Struck Down

**When You're Strange**

Prologue

_Struck Down_

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She stared him down once more. They were both tired, but it was obvious that she was near her limit while he had barely begun to feel fatigued. The fight had raged on for hours and not until the last few minutes had the likely victor become clear. The entire time he had been on the defensive, helpless to do anything but block, parry, and dodge her blades and magnificent blasts. Every so often he would take advantage of that fraction of a second rest between her furious onslaughts to take a quick swipe at her, but she was always a step ahead and simply led her own parry into another ferocious attack. It seemed she was the superior warrior…

But as the fight carried on she began to see that it was all a ruse to make her seem she was winning. She had always been able to crush her opponents with her superior offense, and if they could not be crushed with one blow then she would continue until they were destroyed. If they dodged she would advance until she had caught up, if they blocked she would continue until their defenses broke. She was only wary of an opponent that could overpower her. Never did it cross her mind that one would try to _outlast _her. When she realized her massive reserves of strength were beginning to wane she attempted to fool him, leaving openings to bait him. Though he took the bait he was still careful not to leave himself open, and her retaliating slashes were easily swatted aside. When she attempted to rest he began to attack, forcing her to continue the deadly and exhausting dance. She was running out of options…

She had no choice. It had to end now. She could only hope he would allow her the chance to prepare. She took her stance and summoned her power. A pool of light shone at her feet and sent a vortex of energy upward, blowing her hair and garments every which way. Light cackled around her and gusts of wind surged in all directions. He planted his feet firmly and took a defensive stance, readying himself for the desperate attack. At last, she had gathered all she could. With a scream that reached out to the heavens she brought her blade down, unleashing a magnificent blast of force and light. When they smoke cleared she opened her eyes and gazed in front of her…

The man was gone, not even a bloodstain to indicate his former presence. She sighed and relaxed. She waited for her ears to stop ringing. Even if she was the one speaking, she wanted to hear it clearly.

"Victory," she muttered with a smile.

"Not quite."

A sharp pain ran across her back. She quickly recovered and attempted to return an attack of her own, but he slashed her across the chest before she could swing her sword. She fell face first to the ground. She was done, finished, the fight was undeniably over.

"Not bad at all," he said. "That was really fun. I think you made my hand go numb with that last blast."

With her remaining strength she brought herself to her elbows. She was still unable to lift her head.

"Finish me." She ordered. He made no response of any kind.

"FINISH ME!"

After a short pause he kneeled down and gently lifted her head by her chin. He had removed his hood, finally showing her his face. His amber eyes glowed with a menacing light.

"Why would I do that?" he asked gently. He stood as a dark portal opened behind him. Through sheer force of will she managed to keep her head up.

"You will regret this, darkling. We will continue to come for you. And should we meet again, know that the mercy you have expressed here today will _not _be returned. I _will _destroy you."

He roared with an evil laughter, the kind that most young children imagine demons sound like.

"Good! Keep thinking like that! I'll look forward to next time!"

He stepped through the black corridor and disappeared, leaving her alone. She collapsed onto the ground, unable to hold herself up any longer. She relaxed and focused her thoughts on her fellow warriors, calling out to them. It was time to go home…

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**Wazzap!?! I'm back! So after a combination of slacking, college, and a serious accident, I've finally decided to get back to work. Rather than only work on one story at a time, I'm going to rotate working between all my projects, just to make sure I don't lose any ideas. This story is still in the planning stages, so I'm just gonna let it flow out onto the digital page.**

**Shinigamisparda is back!**


	2. Tourists

**When You're Strange**

Chapter 1

_Tourists_

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He was falling, falling into the darkness. It was too dark to really see anything, but the wind rushing by him was enough of an indication as to what was happening. Without warning he was hit with a cushion of air that halted his movement. As it dissipated he was gently brought to the ground. The darkness dissipated as well, revealing a cloudless sky and a field of flowers. By the colors and light in the sky, he could tell dawn would soon be coming. He turned to watch the approaching sunset, and within moments the glorious ball of light rose from over the horizon. However, as it rose higher he began to feel a burning sensation, and the flowers around him began to wilt and crumble. The sun began to grow increasingly bright and the burning sensation grew to pain. He held up his hands to shield his eyes and they ignited. Soon they were merely bone. He ran from the light, from the pain, toward the night that faded along the horizon. Soon the darkness began to creep towards him and with a sudden burst it rushed forward, covering the earth and sky. Despite the pain he turned once more and ran toward the light, for the darkness had always been his enemy. But it was too quick and it soon enveloped everything. He instantly blacked out…

When he awoke the sun was shining high in the sky, but it was no longer the painful ball of terror it had been before. He inspected himself and found nothing to be out of place. As he turned his head he saw the darkness slowly creeping back across the horizon, not making any attempt to overtake him or anything else again.

_What's going on?_

_Sora…_

He turned, attempting to find the voice's source.

_Sora!_

It grew louder, yet he still saw nothing.

"SORA!"

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Sora opened his eyes just soon enough to see a shoe sole land on his head.

"OW!"

"Lying around again, huh? Lazy bum."

After rubbing his forehead he looked up to see the beautiful face of one he recognized.

"Give me a break, Kairi," he responded. "Besides, I've saved you and the entire universe, twice. I think I deserve to be lazy."

"That was four months ago!" she said with a pout. "And if I'm not mistaken, you were asleep for a year between those two quests. Is this gonna be your routine? 'Save the universe, then sleep until I'm needed again?'"

"Ok, ok, fine. I'm up." He sat up and turned to face her.

The wind blew her hair ever so slightly, giving her a majestic look. Her brilliant blue eyes showed her pleasure in his response. The smile she wore was soft and welcoming, just like what he was used to. She wore the same pink and white outfit she was wearing when he found her again those four long months ago. She looked as beautiful to his eyes then as she did now.

"So what's up?" he asked.

"'What's up?' Do you know what time it is?" she asked impatiently.

"I have absolutely no clue. I did just get up after all."

She rolled her eyes. "Alright then. Let me give you hint."

Her smile changed to a playful smirk as her eyes hardened. She took an offensive stance while summoning her keyblade.

"Oh," was his response.

"Come on, Sora. Get up."

He sighed and obeyed. He took his own stance while summoning his weapon. She nodded in approval.

"One thing before we start," she said.

"What?"

"I want you to really come at me this time."

"But Kairi…" he began.

"Sora, how many times do I have to tell you?" she said angrily. "I don't just want to stand by while you and Riku do all the fighting. And I'm not going to be a damsel in distress anymore. The only way I'll be able to be of any use if you take this training seriously and stop holding back so much!"

"Then why don't you ask Riku?" he complained.

"Ugh, he's worse than you are. He couldn't take a swing at me to save his life. Besides… I like doing this with you more." Her eyes softened briefly as she said those last words. "Come on. Treat me like I'm Riku."

"If I did that I'd probably be making some snide remarks about how you should get another haircut," he joked.

She giggled at that. "You know what I mean. Besides, you're one to talk. What with that cactus growing on your head."

"Oh, now you're gonna get it!"

"Oh yeah? Give it to me then!"

The fight was underway. Sora lunged at Kairi, who sidestepped and launched an attack of her own. Sora easily parried her blow and swung at her. The dance of clashing keyblades continued. Sora was more defensive, allowing Kairi to be more aggressive and pressure him. Despite this Sora held his own and Kairi found herself unable to force Sora to move. They clashed once more and then began to grind their weapons against each other.

"Ok. So you're starting to get good," said Sora with a smirk.

"'Starting to,' huh?"

Kairi shifted her weight forward, causing Sora to shift off balance. Kairi took advantage of this and kicked Sora's foot out from under him. The loss of footing combined with Kairi's force caused Sora to hit the ground, with Kairi pouncing on him. Despite all this their weapons still remained locked together.

"How's that?" she asked, her grin widening.

"Not bad," he answered, his own grin appearing on his face. He quickly wrapped his legs around her and threw his weight to the side, rolling both of them until now _he _was on top. He placed his keyblade to her neck. "But not good enough."

Kairi attempted to roll back to the previous position but Sora wouldn't let her. After some struggling, she sighed in defeat.

"Ok. You win."

"You bet I do."

"Oh, very humble. And did you have to put me in such a compromising position?"

Sora didn't even notice until she mentioned it, but with the position they were in one would've thought that they were about to go at it… outside… in broad daylight. Sora blushed and smirked at the same time.

"As if you're _that _upset by it."

She narrowed her eyes at him, but smiled all the same. Her face was also turning red.

"I guess as long as its you it's not _too _bad."

They both laughed, but neither made an attempt to move. Over the four months that had passed it was obvious the two were together, even if they never specifically said so. There was hardly any time when the two of them were apart, but despite this they were still taking it slow. Although they did give each other a quick peck on the cheek they had never exchanged a real kiss, and as she lay there in front of him he found his desire to remedy that problem growing. Almost without his knowing, he found himself slowly inching towards her. His heart began to race as he neared her face as the thought of rejection began to enter into his mind. But the doubt was held at bay, as she didn't make any attempt to resist. She closed her eyes, welcoming him. Their lips were just inches apart…

"HEY!"

The two turned to see the silver haired boy standing not too far away.

"Get a room you two!" he shouted.

Thoroughly embarrassed, Kairi shoved Sora off of her and quickly stood up, hiding her face in her hands.

"Damnit, Riku!" Sora shouted. "Stay out of other people's business!"

"If you didn't notice you're not exactly in a place that could be called 'private,'" he answered smugly. "There'll be no live porno's on this beach."

"It wasn't gonna get _that _far," Sora muttered.

"That's right," Kairi added, and then turning to Sora with a flirtatious look she said, "That kind of thing is reserved for the bedroom."

Sora immediately turned beet red and turned to hide his face from both of them. Riku howled with laughter.

"Man, even after all this time you can still make him as red as a tomato! I wish I could do it as easily as you could, Kairi!"

"It's a girl thing," she shrugged.

When the color in his face finally died down, Sora turned back to his friends.

"Seriously though," Riku started. "If you're gonna try something like that out here, at least wait until nightfall when no one can see you. Besides, it'll probably be more romantic that way."

"Who died and made you the date guru?" Sora asked. "Besides, since when do I take _your _advice?"

"You don't. That's why you're always doing something stupid!" he smugly replied.

"Oh really?"

"Wanna settle this, porcupine?"

Sora smirked and took a ready position while Riku did the same. Kairi took a few steps back to give the boys some room.

"On my count!" she shouted. "One… two…"

Suddenly a dark swirling mass appeared just a few paces away from the three. It dissipated and in its place was a figure clad in a familiar black hooded coat. The person was lanky and tall. Riku, the tallest of the three friends, only came up to his chest. At the current moment, the figure was not facing them. The figure took a deep breath and let out a content sigh. With a triumphant fist in the air he shouted,

"JACKPOT! BEACH WORLD!"

His voice was obviously masculine and held a sort of cockiness to it. After taking a moment to scan the horizon he turned to the three of them. The hood was still up, covering his face.

"'Sup? Any of you locals feel like giving a tourist a look around?"

Sora quickly raised his keyblade skyward and shouted, "THUNDER!"

The bolt came down where the man stood, and in a flash he was gone.

"Now that was just rude."

Kairi turned to see the man standing behind her. She jumped back toward her friends and took a defensive stance with them.

"You, my friends, are not getting good points for being hospitable," he continued, seeming to be unfazed by the sudden assault. "Now what was that all about?"

"Careful, Sora," Riku warned. "This one's gonna be really hard."

"'Sora?'" the cloaked man asked, cocking his head to the side. "As in 'Chosen Hero of the Realm of Light Sora?'" The figure scanned the boy up and down. "Of course! I should've recognized from what I'd heard! You really do look like a hedgehog!"

"Hey!" Sora yelled, feeling angry and slightly embarrassed.

"And that makes the emo with bleached hair Riku-"

"This is my natural hair color, you ass!"

"-And so the chick must be Kairi."

"Don't call me chick!"

Them man let out a devilish cackle. "This really _is _my lucky day!" he exclaimed with glee, completely ignoring the responses he received. "Time to get to work!"

The three friends surrounded the man, preparing to attack.

"Not here, my amigos. This place is mucho pequeño for what I have in mind."

With a have of his hand another dark portal opened.

"If you'll all come right this way please."

"Why the hell would we do that?" Kairi shouted.

"Hmm… Good point, luv. You don't have any reason to obey me, do you?"

As he finished he stepped trough the portal, which vanished as quickly as it came. The three dropped their stances now that the man had left. Kairi was the first to speak.

"What was up with-?"

But she never finished. Another portal opened behind her and two hand shot out, one covered her mouth while the other grabbed her wrist.

"You're coming all the same, though," said a cold voice.

The two boys had just enough time to call out her name before she was pulled in and the dark doorway closed.

"Damn it!" Riku seethed. "I can't believe we got caught off guard like that!"

Sora just stared wide-eyed at the spot where the spot where she had been.

"No…" we whispered. "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Sora lashed out at a nearby palm tree, toppling it with one blow. It fell to the ground with a large "thunk." Before he could continue Riku grabbed his friends shoulders and held him still.

"Cool it!"

"HE TOOK HER!" Sora screamed in a blind rage. "I'LL KILL HIM!"

Riku violently threw his enraged friend to the ground.

"Save it! We need to figure out a way to get to them first! We don't even have-"

At that moment another corridor opened, yet no one stepped out. Sora sprang to his feet and ran for the passage, but Riku caught him.

"LET GO!"

"It's a trap, stupid!"

"I DON'T CARE! I'M STILL GOING!"

"I know, and so am I! But just CHILL FOR A SECOND!"

Sora did all he could to suppress his emotions. When he was sufficiently calm, Riku let him go.

"It's obviously a trap, but we're still going. But we're going _together _and _calmly _so we don't get caught off guard again."

Sora took a deep breath to relax.

"Ok," he answered. Riku nodded in response. The two comrades faced the passage and prepared themselves.

"On my count," said Riku. "Ready?"

"GO!"

The two rushed forward into the unknown.

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**Uh-oh! Kairi's been kidnapped again! And after insisting she never wanted to be the damsel in distress again! Don't worry women's right's activists, Kairi is not just going to be the pretty face who stands on the sidelines like she did in the games. She will have a very active role. What does our mysterious villain want with our three heroes? And what is up with his personality? Check for updates to find out! Don't forget to review!**


	3. Arena

**When You're Strange**

Chapter2

_Arena_

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The world the two friends emerged in was unfamiliar to both of them. As far as the eye could see there was nothing but desert wasteland. Guts of wind howled, kicking up clouds of sand as they went. The sun beat down with a merciless heat, and beads of sweat had already begun to form on the foreheads of the two. They were standing in front of some kind of ruin, towering above the desert below, made of crumbling stone. Several statues lined the entrance of this massive structure, but they were all too worn away to decipher what they were sculpted after. More importantly, there was no one to be seen.

"Where-?" Sora began.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" interrupted a voice. "BOYS AND GIRLS! WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO THE TRIAL OF ANUBIS!"

Sora and Riku looked up and spotted the black-cloaked man standing high above on the top of a broken obelisk with his hands raised dramatically in the air.

"Welcome, contestants! It's time to play a little game."

"'A game!?' Where's Kairi!?" Sora asked impatiently.

"_Matt__e__, matte, _my spiky haired friend! The reward of any challenge is always at the end."

"KAIRI ISN'T SOME PRIZE, YOU-!"

"What are the rules?" Riku interrupted.

"I'll keep it simple. To achieve what you want you must make it through the trial. There are a series of battles and enemies that you must overcome. But be warned, they are no pushovers. Clear out all the opponents to win. To put it simply, your goal is to live."

"Fine. We'll play your game," said Sora through clenched teeth. "And when we're done, the three of us are going to make you suffer!"

The man let out a maniacal laugh.

"Good! Keep yourself motivated! Let your anger carry you through the trial! Adieu, my friends! See you at the finish line!"

Another dark portal and he was gone.

"Come on, Riku. The sooner this is done, the sooner I can beat the shit out him."

"Y-Yeah. Gotcha…" Riku was a bit taken aback by Sora swearing like that. Even when he was angry Sora never usually said more than "damn." But, on the other hand, it wasn't every day your true love got kidnapped by a psychopath.

The two quickly entered the structure, climbing the stairs for several minutes before reaching a completely flat room that stretched from end to end. The two took a minute to catch their breaths then calmly, but cautiously, walked to the center of the room. For a few moments it seemed like nothing would happen, but suddenly several dark portals opened. Surrounding them were creatures wrapped in bandages, carrying hooks in one hand and ankhs in the other and wearing pharaoh styled headpieces. They had no faces save for two glowing yellow eyes. Hanging from their chests was a symbol that they found all too familiar.

"Heartless…" Riku muttered.

"Yeah," agreed Sora. "Let's finish this quickly."

Riku nodded in agreement and both friends summoned their weapons, standing back-to-back. The Heartless levitated slightly off the ground, then began to quickly rotate around their prey. They were so fast that all the boys could see was a circular blur around them.

"Wait for it…" Rku commanded.

After rotating for a few more moments Heartless made a brief stop before rushing forward with blinding speed.

"NOW!"

Sora cast Reflega, halting all the attacks and blasting them back with the spell's nasty after-effect. Sora then began to pick off the enemies with Blizzaga while Riku did the same with Dark Aura. Within seconds, the fight was over.

"And he said they wouldn't be pushovers," Riku commented with a grin. Sora flashed a quick smirk to his friend before returning to his serious demeanor.

"Come on,' said Sora. "Let's hurry to the next-"

Suddenly a massive dark portal opened up and out popped a monstrous Heartless resembling a sphinx. It was so tall that it barely fit in the massive room. It let out a bellowing roar that shook the whole tower. Riku and Sora stared wide-eyed.

"Holy-"

"-Shit." Riku finished.

The beast then proceeded to open it's mouth and let loose a massive fireball…

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Kairi groaned as she opened her eyes and struggled to lift her head. Her vision was blurry and for several minutes she felt nauseous. She tried to touch her forehead but found herself unable to move her arms. Panicked, she struggled violently for a moment until her head began to throb with pain, causing her to cease her actions. She tested her range of motion and found that she was bound to some kind of chair with her shoulders and neck tied securely to it, as were her ankles and thighs, which were bound together. Her wrists were tied together not just behind her back, but behind the back of the chair as well. As her vision began to clear she found that she was restrained not with rope or chains, but with darkness itself. She tried to summon her keyblade but found she was unable to do so.

_Great. The damsel in distress, _again_. This is exactly the kind of thing all the practice was suppose to _prevent_. _

She sighed and relaxed, realizing she wasn't getting free unless someone else did it for her. She gazed around the room to find she was in a massive stone chamber with towering statues lined across a pathway leading to her seat. The statues were mostly destroyed, ranging from having the detail worn away to being completely smashed. The seat she was tied to was made from what was unmistakably gold, though it's shine and veneer had long since dulled. If it weren't for the torches that lined the room she would have been unable to see anything.

Kairi felt something brush against her bare shin. Looking down she was horrified to find it was a Heartless. It was pure black and gazed upon her with glowing yellow eyes. It twitched its head, antennae, and small arms restlessly. If she remembered correctly, this kind of Heartless was called a "Shadow." Bound and unable to use either her weapon on magic, Kairi seized up and held her breath with fear, desperately hoping it would just go away. To her dismay it climbed up the seat and sat itself promptly in her lap. It gazed at her with its beady eyes for a moment before proceeding to gently rub the side of its head against her body like a cat. After a few minutes of this it curled up and proceeded to fall asleep in her lap. Kairi was baffled; she had never seen a _docile _Heartless before.

"He likes girls," said a voice. "Especially cute ones."

Kairi looked frantically for the voice's source, but found nothing.

"Up here, sweetness."

Kairi looked up and was stunned to find her captor standing upside down on the ceiling. He then began to… well she wasn't sure what to call it. She probably would've called it an evil giggle if it didn't sound so masculine. He then slowly floated down, not turning himself right side up until he had reached the floor.

"Is our guest comfortable?" he asked.

"Oh sure," Kairi answered, thickly laying on the sarcasm. "Like sleeping on a cloud."

"Oh come now. You're sitting on a throne! Made of gold, no less! Surely something like that is a suitable for one of the prestigious Princesses of Heart."

"You know about that?"

"Please. That kind of thing is common knowledge to those who travel between the worlds."

"Is that why you kidnapped me?"

"Not at all. That status of yours has nothing to do with what I have planned."

"Ok, drop the act."

"What act?"

"That one. On the islands you talked like some sort of surfer dude. Now you're acting like a butler."

"Why whatever do you mean?" he asked in fake British accent. He then let out that same deep giggle as before. "Come on, babe. A little role play can makes things more entertaining!"

Kairi groaned. Not only had she been kidnapped, but also her captor felt the need to annoy the hell out of her. She couldn't wait for Sora and Riku to come get her so she could bash his head in. The Shadow in her lap shifted a bit before sleeping contently again.

"Get this thing off me," she demanded.

"I told you, Twitch likes girls."

"'Twitch?' You named this thing? And you chose a ridiculous name like Twitch?"

"What? It suites him. 'Sides, you gotta admit, he's cute." On that note he calmly strolled over to her. "But not as cute as you…" He reached forward and brushed a few strands of hair away from her eyes. "Damn, you're pretty. Looks like the kid knows how to pick 'em." Kairi cringed as he stroked her hair, desperately hoping Sora and Riku would burst in and stop this. He leaned forward and took a whiff of her scent. "Nice smell, too."

"Get. The hell. Away. From me. NOW!"

The man backed off, but not before giggling again.

"I hope you enjoyed that, pervert, 'cause when the guys get here and free me the three of us are going to slaughter you!"

Her captor quizzically cocked his head.

"Did you say 'the three of us'?" he asked. "_You _can fight?"

"Think I can't 'cause I'm a girl?"

"Hey, I'm not sexist, chica. I just haven't heard anything about _your _epic tales of heroism. 'Sides, you don't look like you could even kill a low rank Heartless."

Kairi did her best to lunge forward and wring his neck. She had had enough of being taunted. For several minutes she struggled with all her might. Finally, tiring out, she stopped but still held her death glare.

"…But I guess looks can be deceiving." He leaned in closer to inspect her. "Whether or not you can fight well, I don't know, but you definitely have a fighter's spirit." He scratched his chin for a moment, then let loose a hearty laugh. "I think this calls for a change in plans! Looks like you'll be seeing your two knights sooner than either of us had anticipated!" A dark portal opened behind him. "I'll be right back, so don't go anywhere!" And with that he disappeared.

Kairi groaned. _Dear God, what a horribly overused joke! _ She looked down in her lap to find the Heartless quizzically staring at her with those beady eyes. However, it soon lost interest and went back to sleep. Kairi sighed. _I guess you are kind of cute…_

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Sora repelled another fireball with his keyblade. He ran forward for another attempt to hit the Heartless, but was stopped short when a massive paw sent him flying backwards. Pain surged through him as his back slammed into the opposite end of the room. His willpower allowed him the strength to land on his feet rather than flat on his face.

"SORA!"

Sora lifted his head in time to see another fireball just moments away from him. Before he could react, Riku jumped in the way and summoned Dark Shield. The blast was unable to penetrate the barrier. Riku let the barrier drop and nearly fell over, just barely able to keep himself up.

"This… is bad…" he panted.

Sora nodded. "We can't keep this up. We have to finish it."

"Any ideas, oh fearless leader?"

The giant sphinx tilted its head back as fire began to billow from its mouth.

"Looks like it's charging for a more powerful attack," Riku noted. "If you've got any ideas, now's the time."

Sora just stood there, dreading the incoming attack. He was barely able to handle its regular fireballs; there was no way they could take a hit from a charged up version.

"We need to use Session," said Sora.

"It won't let us get close enough for that," argued Riku.

Sora groaned. The beast looked as though it was nearly done with the preparations for its blast.

_Damnit! Damn those freaking fireballs… Wait a minute…_

"I got it!" he shouted, and rushed forward.

"What are you-?!"

"Just trust me!"

"'Trust the idiot?" Riku muttered, but rushed after his friend all the same. "This better not get us killed!" he shouted.

"If it does, it wouldn't be any different than if we _didn't _try it!"

"Is that your idea of a pep-talk!?"

The monster launched its attack, an enormous ball of flame that glowed with a terrifying light. Sora raised his weapon behind his head and continued forward towards it. At the last second he planted his feet and swung his weapon with all his might.

"BATTER UP!"

The keyblade blade slammed into the attack, slowing down its movement but still having the force to slide Sora backwards. Sora kept pushing but found himself unable to overpower the force against him. At that moment Riku joined in, hitting Sora's weapon with his own to support it.

"In its face?" Riku asked.

"You got it!"

The two managed to overcome the power against them, turning it back towards its source. The attack smashed into the monster with an ear-splitting explosion, causing significant cracks in the wall behind it. While it was still stunned the two friends rushed forward.

"Now, Riku!"

The two began the devastating attack, rapidly slashing at the beast's face. Next they unleashed Last Saber on its right front leg, crippling it. The Heartless raised its head in an attempt to retaliate, but the repeated blasts of Dark Cannon knocked it down again. They attacked its face once again with Master Hearts and then proceeded to cripple its other leg with XIII Blades. Finally, the two used All's End causing the two weapons to fire beams of light and darkness at each other, with the monster's head between them. The beast finally collapsed onto the floor, where it then proceeded to fade and vanish, releasing the heart from inside. The two comrades, thoroughly exhausted, fell to their knees out of breath. After a bit of panting, Riku was the first to speak.

"Where… Where did you get… the idea… to hit it back?" he asked. It was a few moments before his friend replied.

"Baseball."

Riku raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"It just… sorta hit me… If they were balls… of fire… why couldn't I…. hit it like a ball?"

Riku just stared for a bit, then let out a light laugh.

"You really… gambled with that… didn't you?"

Sora just smiled and nodded. After a few more minutes, they two had finally recovered enough to get up.

"This isn't good," Riku stated. "It took everything we had just to get past the first level."

"Ah, but you _did _get past it!" replied a familiar voice. The two turned to see the dark man step out of a portal from behind them. He applauded vigorously, as if he was genuinely happy at their victory. "Bravo! You were splendid! Well done!"

"Stop acting like you're happy for us," Sora commanded. "And stop pretending you have class. You're just an underhanded criminal!"

He let out a cackle that echoed throughout the room, making it seem more evil. If he wasn't so tired, Sora would've tried to take a swipe at him right then.

"She said something similar to that. She seemed to be pretty annoyed that I was being nice to her."

"KAIRI!" Sora shouted, and rushed the man with a raised fist. He calmly stepped aside and tripped the boy, who landed on his face. "WHERE IS SHE!? WHAT'VE YOU DONE WITH HER!?"

"I don't see a point in telling you. Especially considering that depending on how you answer my little question she could be somewhere very different very soon. As could you."

"'Question?'" Riku asked. "You're here to ask _us _something?"

"That's the case."

"Is that the only reason you came down here?"

"Actually, there is another reason." The man raised his hand and pointed one finger into the air. A flash of light appeared from the end of it. The two friends looked above their heads to see a familiar spell at work.

"'Cure?'" Sora asked. "You're healing us? Why?"

"Because you went through such an exhausting battle. I wanted to see if you could beat all the rooms individually, not in a row. I'm not _that _cruel."

Sora used his revitalized strength to summon his weapon.

"I wouldn't if I were you," the man warned. Sora growled. He couldn't risk endangering Kairi. "Now Riku, since you seem to be the most reasonable of this bunch, its time for my question. Your friend, can she fight?"

"You bet she can!" Sora yelled angrily. The man gave him a quick glance before turning back to Riku.

"Well Riku?"

"We've been training her for a while now," he answered. "She can hold her own."

The man let out a deep and masculine giggle. "Perfect! A change of plans it is!"

"'Change of plans?'" Riku tensed. He didn't like the sound of that.

"What are you gonna do with Kairi?" Sora asked.

The man let out a truly demonic laugh. The echo made it sound like a chorus of devils was all around them. The man raised both hands and a dark tendril shot out of each one, wrapping around Sora and Riku.

"The same thing I'm going to do to you," he responded.

Another corridor of darkness opened and the two boys were hurled through it. The force by which they were thrown was so great that the two went soaring through Betwixt and Between and into another corridor. The two tumbled across a dirt ground before sliding to a stop. After recovering the two looked around to find themselves in a stadium of some kind. Enormous didn't begin to describe it. The stands surrounding the dirt ground where they stood were so far way that they couldn't see where the ground and the stands met. The seats, however, were still high enough to be seen from their current position. The place seemed to be devoid of all life in every way possible. The ground was dry and cracked, the stands had noticeable chunks removed, and even the sky was a dull red. On top of that there was no wind and no sound. Not a single thing could be heard.

"What freaky place are we in now?" Sora asked. Riku didn't answer. Just then another corridor opened in front of them. The two summoned their keyblades and took their battle stances, but dropped them when they saw who came out.

"Kairi!" they both shouted. The man in the coat was pushing her forward, and her arms were tied behind her back.

"Sora! Riku! You're ok!"

"Let her go, NOW!" Sora demanded. The man made no movement for a few moments, then proceeded to violently push her forward. Kairi did her best to keep her balance, but tripped and began to fall. Sora rushed forward and caught her in his arms while Riku stepped in front of them with a defensive stance.

"Aww! What a pwecious wittle moment!" the man taunted in a babyish tone.

Sora ignored him and cut the darkness binding Kairi's wrists. Sora began to frantically question her well-being. "Are you ok? What did he do? Did he hurt you?"

"Nothing like that. But he wasn't really accommodating. He tied me to a chair."

"'Throne!'" the man corrected. "It was made of gold and in the chamber of a former royal! I don't think a kidnapee could hope for better place to be held hostage!"

"Where are we?" Riku asked, "And why did you bring us here? Why does Kairi being able to fight change what you had in store for us?"

"This, my inquisitive friend, is a coliseum of a society long since passed. It is so old that no one knows it exists, much less its name. I call it simply "The Arena." I stumbled upon it a few years ago and decided that this would be the perfect place to have some of my grander battles."

"You brought us here so you could fight us?" asked Kairi.

The man chuckled. "It's been a hell of a day! I find a new vacation spot, stumble across a group that I hoped I would bump into eventually, and to top it all off I find out I have _three _opponents instead of two! This couldn't get much better!"

Kairi summoned her keyblade and joined her friends in an offensive stance.

"Originally," he continued, "I was going to wait for the two guys to make it through the trial before we battled it out for the girl's fate. But when I found out the girl could fight too, I just couldn't wait that long!" He raised his arms in a dramatic fashion as darkness began to gather around him. "So come at me! Humble me with the power of three keyblades! Show me how much your friendship and love empowers you! Unleash your aggression! Test your skill!" The darkness that gathered around him steadily grew more intense until it finally erupted into a swirling aura. He took a hand-to-hand fighting stance and tightly clenched his fists. In a completely serious and deep voice he shouted,

"FIGHT!!!"

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**So another chapter is done. I guess I'm on a roll here! Sorry for leaving you at a cliffhanger like this, but I felt it was the perfect place to do so! I tried to do something I haven't seen anyone else do in a KH fanfic and that's try to describe a Limit being used. Tell me if it was good and what I could improve cause a few them are going to show up really soon, including one's that I've made up myself! A personal shout-out to the Magnificent Tim Fortune, the man that made me think "You know what, maybe I **_**can **_**make a good KH fic" with his superior work, Cognito. Seriously man, it's an honor to have you even comment on a story of mine, much less fave it. I desperately hope you get out of your writer's black soon.**

**Also, if you haven't guessed already, one of the villain's personality quirks is to use word from other languages in his dialect. I figure everyone knows the ones I used here except for **_**Matte, matte**_**, which is my lame attempt at the Japanese for "Wait, wait." I wanted to use more than just Spanish and French.**


	4. Exit Light

**When You're Strange**

Chapter 3

_Exit Light_

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The three keyblade wielders rushed their opponent as a group. Sora reached him first and swung at the man, who ducked under the blow. Sora quickly turned and attacked the man from behind while Riku did the same from the front. The cloaked man caught both keyblades by their guards. Kairi swung down at him, but he quickly raised his foot and stepped on the edge of her weapon, trapping it between his sole and the ground. He then effortless tossed the two boys skyward and then quickly did the same with Kairi. As they were suspended helplessly in the air the man raised a hand toward them, summoning a mass of dark energy around them. As he clenched his fist the darkness closed around the three, encasing them in a ball of darkness. He quickly slammed his fist into the ground and the ball imitated the motion, crashing into the earth below. The ball dissipated to reveal the three comrades sprawled across the ground in pain. They managed to raise themselves up to prepare for another assault when they were met with a dark shockwave that sent them soaring. The unbelievable force of the attack was enough to actually cause them to slam into the bottom of the stands, despite how far away they were. Kairi managed to lift her head up, ignoring her broken arm. Her eyes widened as she saw a hailstorm of dark bolts approaching. She cast Reflega, protecting herself and her friends from the onslaught. With her remaining magic energy she cast Curga, healing her broken arm as well as the other injuries of her and her friends.

"No way," Riku muttered. "There's just no way. Not even Xemnas was _this_ strong."

"We can't let this drag on," Sora agreed, handing Kairi an Ether. "We have to end this before he has a chance to get _really _serious."

Kairi uncorked the concoction and quickly chugged it down. As she finished she noticed a portal opening above them. The man dropped out of it, diving towards them with one fist raised.

"Scatter!" she screamed. The three managed to dodge the initial blow, but the shockwave sent them all soaring again. This time, however, each one was blown in a different direction. The man jumped toward Kairi with alarming speed and with a swift kick sent her crashing to the ground. She gasped for air she used her keyblade to help her stand, coughing up blood as she rose. Before she knew what happened she found herself raised off the ground with a hand tightly gripped around her neck.

"And they said you could fight," he chuckled.

"Don't… take… me… lightly…" she strained. She aimed her keyblade at his head and hit him point-blank with Pearl. The ball of light exploded brilliantly, causing him to drop his prey to cover his face as he screamed in pain. Kairi wasted no time; raising her weapon skyward she shouted, "HOLY!" A pillar of light burst forth from under her, sending the man tumbling backwards.

By this time Sora and Riku had finally caught up with the two and took the opportunity to use Session. The two unleashed a flurry of attacks on their black-cloaked opponent, knocking him back and forth between them like a tennis ball. The two paused just a moment in preparation for Last Saber, but that was all that was needed for him to get his bearings. The man dodged each of the lightning-fast stabs with remarkable ease. When the two unleashed Dark Cannon, raining down fireballs of darkness, he simply raised his hand and they all faded into nothing. They attacked with Master Hearts, extending energy from their weapons and slicing at their opponent, who dodged by merely levitating into the air. The two gave chase, flying at him while activating XIII Blades. The swords they summoned spun around them at blinding speeds, acting like a buzz saw, but shattered upon contact with their target's fist. The two tossed their keybaldes up, unleashing the finishing move All's End. The two weapons faced each other and began to pull the man in as they glowed with energy.

_Dodge that! _Riku thought as he and Sora landed on the ground. To his dismay, the man shot two tendrils at the ground and quickly pulled himself out of harms way. The two weapons fired beams of light and darkness at each other, hitting nothing. The weapons disappeared then reappeared in their respective owners' hands.

"How?" Riku muttered. "How did he dodge all that?" Sora and Kairi just stared. No one had _ever _been able to do what he just did. They were so sure they had him, but all he needed was a split second to get away. Their opponent loudly hacked blood, leaving a large splatter on the dirt in front of him. Within seconds it was gone, drank up by the parched soil.

"Not bad," he coughed. "But not good enough." He raised a hand and three tendrils shot out, wrapping around each of the three fighters. They were lifted up into the air and violently slammed into the ground. Before they could recover they were pulled across the hard ground, having their bodies viciously scraped against the earth. The tendrils then tossed them into the air then quickly hit them to the ground.

Kairi panted, coughing up more blood as she managed to pull herself up to her knees.

"We can't compete," she said. "He's too good."

"Don't think like that, Kairi!" Sora shouted. "We can still beat him! He has to have some sort of weakness! Some kind of flaw that we can use!"

"Besides, we have to stop him!" Riku added. "We can't let a guy this go free and do as he wishes! He'll wreak havoc in all the worlds!"

"That's great and all, but how are we supposed to _do _that?" she complained. "We're still way out of our league here, and… Wait a minute… He _does _have a weakness!"

The two stared intently at her, waiting for her answer with hope.

"Sora, have you recovered enough for another Limit yet?"

"Not yet. What are you getting at?"

Kairi used her keyblade to pull herself to her feet.

"My Pearl and Holy spells seemed to hit him hard," she explained. "I think he's particularly weak against light spells. If we can hit him with that technique we've been working on, we might be able to end this!"

"Yeah! It might just do the trick! Riku, do you have an Ether?"

"No. Didn't you have one?"

"I gave it to Kairi."

The two turned to her but she shook her head. The two boys sighed and pulled themselves up. Their opponent was casually walking towards them, his dark aura swirling around him.

"Riku, you have to keep him busy," pleaded Kairi. "Otherwise we don't have chance."

"So I'm doing all the work again?" he smirked.

"Please, no jokes."

"How long do you need, Sora?"

"A minute," he answered. "Maybe two."

Riku nodded. "Make sure to keep your eyes peeled. When he sees that I'm the only one attacking he'll know something's up."

His two comrades nodded. "Be careful," Kairi warned.

Riku charged forward, swinging his keyblade as fast as he could, but not landing a single hit. He still pressed on, hoping the pointless attack could still buy time, but his assault was cut short by a devastating punch to the solar plexus. Riku fell to his knees, completely out of breath, and was quickly kicked to the side. He forced himself up and charged again, but was sent to the ground by a right hook. As he attempted to stand he was yanked up by his hair and then had his head repeatedly slammed to the ground. He felt his bleeding forehead trickle the red liquid down his face. Dizziness began to set in and he was now unable to focus on anything, but he still got managed to see the figure walking away towards his friends. Riku refused to give up. He was going to get them the time they needed even if it killed him.

"Hey, cockbite," he yelled. The figure stopped and gazed at him. "Yeah, you cockbite." Riku forced himself to his feet, trying with all his might not to fall over. "What makes you think we're done?" Riku knew he wouldn't be able to keep himself balanced long enough to run at him, so instead he jumped. He brought the keyblade down as hard as he could, but the man easily caught it. Riku screamed in pain as the man broke his arm, making him drop his weapon. A swift knee to the stomach and Riku fell to his hands and knees. With a cruel stomp on the head, Riku lay limp and defeated on the ground.

The man let out a light chuckle. "You've got some chutzpah, kid."

"More than you'll know," said a voice. The man turned to see Sora and Kairi standing directly behind him with their keyblades raised in the air.

"SOLAR!" they both cried.

An enormous pillar of blinding light shot up from underneath the two, violently knocking the black-cloaked man skyward. The man looked down to see Kairi holding her keyblade like a gun, pointing it at him.

"Pearl Chain!"

Balls of light began streaming out of her weapon, and thousands of Pearls began rapidly pelting him. He the pain was intense, but he was still able to notice that the magic spheres bounced off him rather than exploding like her previous attack. Kairi finished with her assault and Sora appeared in the air. With blinding speed he zoomed back and forth, batting all the Pearls that had bounced off the man back at him, this time exploding on contact. After Sora had hit the last one he sent the man toward the ground with a powerful strike from the keyblade. Sora seemingly warped next to Kairi and the two raised their weapons, summoning a giant orb of brilliant light.

"PURIFY!"

They swung their weapons, throwing the attack at the man as he plummeted toward the ground. On contact, the orb erupted with a massive explosion of light and sound, so much that the ones who launched it had to turn away and cover their ears. After the explosion had ended two looked for the results, waiting for the dust to clear. Kairi began to feel woozy and lost her balance, falling onto Sora, who gently held her up.

"Did… Did we get him?" she asked, not entirely awake.

Before he could answer a hacking sound came from the dust cloud. As it cleared he saw the man, crouched over on one knee and holding his chest, vomiting blood onto the ground. His coat was mostly torn, but the hood remained.

"It can't be," Sora whispered.

The man managed to painfully pull himself to his feet.

"Ok," he coughed. "Now _that _was impressive."

Before either Sora or Kairi could react the man raised a hand. Kairi suddenly flew towards him, pulled by an invisible force, until her head was held firmly by the hand that summoned her.

"KAIRI!"

Sora ran forward only to be sent flying by a shockwave fired by the other hand. Kairi attempted to swing her keyblade, but her wrist was caught before she could.

"No more cheap shots, babe," he said, and squeezed her wrist until she dropped her weapon. "You may not have a lot of experience, but you're definitely deadly to a guy like me." Kairi struggled as the hand around her head began to squeeze tighter. "Looks like I'll have to take you down first." Kairi screamed as electricity shot through her body, lashing out at every inch of her. Within seconds, she fell limp and was silent. She was dropped to the ground, where she lay motionless. "Au revoir, mademoiselle."

Sora looked on in horror at the two bodies that lay strewn across the ground.

"Kairi… Riku…" As Sora turned to look at the man, slowly beginning seeing red. "You…You… YOU'LL PAY!!!"

Sora dashed forward with blinding speed, wildly swinging his weapon at his enemy who weaved back and forth to avoid the flurry of blows. Sora couldn't focus on anything but making his enemy suffer, and failed to notice the retaliating attack until it was too late. Sora felt something cold enter his stomach, halting his attack. He looked down to see a spike of darkness through him. He felt the energy leaving his body as the world began to fade to black…

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The three of them quickly peeked through the door. Seeing that no one was there, they quietly hovered in. Their small size and ability to fly indefinitely was particularly useful for sneaking around.

"And what are you three doing?" asked a female voice. The three fairies flinched and slowly turned to see a familiar headband wearing ninja waiting by the door.

"Us? Nothing! We're not doing anything! Why would we be doing anything?" answered Yuna, desperately trying to cover for herself and her partners.

"Yeah!" added Rikku. "It's not like we snuck in looking for treasure, or anything like that!"  
"Moron!" Paine shouted.

"As I thought," said Yuffie. "So you're looking to swipe some treasure from us, huh?"

"N-No, you got us all wrong!" insisted Rikku. "We heard rumors that Leon got his hands on rare device."

"We just wanted to get a look at what it was," said Yuna. "We weren't going to just _take_ it."

"Oh, really?" Yuffie raised an eyebrow.

"Don't tell Leon," Paine begged.

"We've worked really hard to get his trust!" added Rikku.

"Please, don't ruin it because of a little misunderstanding!" finished Yuna.

Yuffie stared hard at them then suddenly beamed a smile.

"I guess you're lucky I'm the one that caught you. I don't think _anyone _else would've believed you."

"You mean, we're off the hook?" asked Rikku.

"Bad habits die hard," she answered. "Just don't go it again. If anyone else, especially Leon catches you, you're through."

"Thanks for understanding," said Paine.

"No problem! I know what it's like to resist old habits. You three aren't the only one's who used to be treasure hunters."

The three pixies exchanged glances.

"You?" they asked.

"That's right! But don't say nothing!"

"We won't!" Yuna promised.

At that moment a corridor of darkness opened but inches away from them. Out stepped a man in a tattered cloak carrying three bodies, one over his shoulder and one under each arm. The Gullwings hid behind Yuffie as she pulled out her shuriken.

"Good," the man said, "Looks like someone's here."

"Who are you?" Yuffie demanded. "What are you doing here?"  
"You haven't earned the answer to the first question," he chuckled. "As for the second, I'm just here to drop these off." The man dropped all three bodies to the floor. All four of them instantly recognized one of them.

"Sora!" Yuffie shouted in horror as the three pixies flew down to him. They all looked beat up, but Sora looked particularly injured. There was an extremely red and large circle on his exposed chest.

"By the way," he continued, "You'll want to bring that healer friend of yours. I did what I could, but curative spells really aren't my forte." He waved his hand and another dark portal opened. "When they wake up, tell them to meet me at the end of the ravine. You can come too, if you'd like." He walked through and disappeared with a fiendish cackle. Yuffie kneeled down with her friends.

"Is he...?"

"He's alive, but his pulse is weak," answered Paine, both hands on his neck. "He needs help now."

"This one's banged up, but still Ok," said Rikku, referring to the silver haired boy.

"The girl's taken a beating, but with some rest she should be fine," said Yuna, hovering above the girl that Yuffie suspected was Kairi. "Still, some healing wouldn't hurt."

"Go and get Aerith, and Leon, too," Yuffie ordered. The three nodded and teleported away. Yuffie gazed at the defeated trio in front of her.

_That guy, _she thought to herself. _Was he really strong enough to do this to you?_

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**So there it is, the big fight. I wanted the title to be something related to the events without being obvious with would win. It's still kinda obvious, but not overly so. It's actually part of the Metallica song "Enter Sandman." After some critique about the way I described limit in the previous chapter being too short and choppy, I decided to try to different ways to describe it in this chapter, as well as use one of the limits I made up, "Solar." Tell me which one do you think is best (though I think I already know the answer).**

**I ended the chapter with Yuna, Rikku, and Paine because even though I haven't played FFX or X-2 I still liked their characters in the KH2 game. Also, I have a thing for comedic minor characters. I decided to let Yuffie catch them because she was the material thief in FFVII and there would be some relations between her and the treasure-hunting Gullwings. Anyway, I promise that our mystery villain will no longer be nameless or faceless after next chapter. But that might be a while off 'cause I'm still thinking about exactly what I want to have happen. Like I said, I have a few plans for the story, but otherwise I'm just letting the rest flow out. See you next time.**


	5. Touching Nerves

**When You're Strange**

Chapter 4

_Touching Nerves_

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He was in the field again. It was the same as before. The sun had yet to rise, but it was just over the horizon. He had no doubts it would be the same as last time, but all the same he didn't move. He knew he couldn't outrun the light, and there was nowhere to hide in the shadows. He prepared for the pain, but instead of the sun rising over the horizon a figure began to walk toward him. The person was obviously feminine but that was all he could make out as her body shone brilliantly, obscuring any other details. She broke into an inhumanly fast sprint and within seconds was standing right in front of him. Before he could react he was backhanded to the ground. She then proceeded to raise her hand, summoning a ball of light…

Without warning a black fist knocked her to the ground. He turned to see a figure in a hooded cloak standing next to him. The figure ignored him completely, focusing its gaze on the woman, who quickly stood up and fired a beam of light at the figure. The figure responded with a similar action, shooting a stream of dark mass that met and then overtook the beam, knocking the woman back to the ground. She struggled and attempted to rise, but soon collapsed and dispersed into sparkles of light. After the last had dissipated, the figure turned to him.

_Pathetic._ Although it was obviously the figure speaking, he heard the voice inside his head.

"Who are you?" he asked, scooting back a bit. The figure removed its hood. His eyes widened in shock as he looked at the exposed face.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Afraid of the dark?"

The face was his own, down to the last detail except for one. His eyes were amber colored and let out a slight glow.

"Wake up, loser."

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Sora's eyes shot open. He was lying down staring at a ceiling that seemed oddly familiar. He tried to get up but his stomach had other plans as it sent a shot of pain through him. He groaned and quickly lied back down.

"Hey! He's up!"

Before Sora could turn his head a small figure flew in front of his face.

"Don't move," she ordered. Turning her head she said, "Yuna, get Aerith in here!"

"Ok!"

"You're…" Sora began.

"It's Rikku," she answered. "We never really introduced ourselves last time. Yuna went to get Aerith, and Paine's taking care of one of your friends."

"'My friends?'"

Sora turned his head to see Riku lying on the floor with a blanket covering him from the shoulders down and a pillow under his head. A small figure with silver hair and a black outfit was nearby, placing a damp towel on his head. Kairi was lying on a table not far from him, also covered in the same way. Sora himself was on a bed.

"How's Riku?" he asked the other pixie.

"Uh, I'm fine," responded the blonde in front of him.

"No, his name is Riku, too."

"He's doing fine," said Paine, flying over to Sora. "Well, fine compared to you anyway."

"And Kairi?" he asked.

"She's in the best shape of all of you," Rikku answered. "But she's still a bit banged up."

Sora wanted to get up see for himself, but he felt particularly weak and in pain. He was forced to simply nod and take their word for it.

"I'm in Radiant Garden?" he asked. They both nodded.

"Merlin's house to be exact," answered Paine. " It's a bit crowded here, but Aerith said it might not be a good idea to move you yet."

"It still isn't," said an angelic voice. Sora craned his head to see Aerith walking in with the last of the pixie trio, who according to Rikku was named Yuna. "It's good to see you up. How are you?"

"Horrible," he answered. "But I guess it's thanks to you I feel like crap instead of being dead. Thanks."

She smiled and nodded. She raised a hand above his abdomen and a curga spell went to work, relieving him of his pain.

"And now?"

"Much better. And am I done?"

"If only. I've done this over ten times already. After about an hour the wound worsens again. I don't what's going on." Her eyes began to flutter as her head sagged a bit.

"You alright?"

"Just tired. That's what happens when you're the only healer in town that can handle something like this."

"Thank you." She nodded in response. "Are you having the same problem with Riku and Kairi?"

"No. Their wounds have been healed for a while and have stayed that way. But they must be exhausted. Kairi still hasn't woken up yet. The boy, Riku, got up once and we explained what happened to him. He just needs some more rest."

Sora cautiously lifted himself to a sitting position, happy to find that nothing was stopping him. Just then the front door swung open and in ran a familiar face.

"Sora!" she said, sprinting to his side.

"Hey Yuffie! You seem happier than usual."

"Why wouldn't I be? You're finally up! I was afraid you'd bought the big one! Are you Ok?" She quickly turned to Aerith. "Is he Ok?"

"I'm Ok!" Sora assured her. "Seriously Yuffie, what's gotten into you?"

"You, man!" She unexpectedly hugged him tightly. "We owe our home, getting our lives back, to you! If you bit the dust, I don't know what I'd do!" She began to gently sob onto his shoulder.

"Wow… I didn't know you cared _that _much."

She released him and wiped her eyes. "Of course! You're one of my best friends!"

"I guess she's still a little shaken up," said a male voice. Sora looked to the door to see Leon leaning against the door. Cid was standing next to him, lighting a cigarette.

"Leon! Cid!"

"How're ya doin', kid?" Cid greeted. "Finally done countin' sheep?"

"I hope so," he answered. "What do you mean she's still shaken up?" he asked Leon.

"We were all pretty shocked to hear you were in such a bad condition. But Yuffie and the trio were the ones who actually saw you arrive."

"We have names, you know!" shouted Rikku.

"You were all in bad shape, but you were particularly injured," explained Yuna. "If Aerith didn't get here sooner you might have, well…"

Sora shuddered at that.

"Needless to say, seeing you all messed up like that was unsettling," finished Paine.

"Yuffie took it pretty hard," said Leon.

"Yeah. She wuz walkin' back 'an forth like-"

"Shut up, Cid! That's enough!" Yuffie burst out, her face beet red. "It's not like I'm his girlfriend!"

"Hey, I'm not the one that took off like bottle rocket when the fairy came with the news."

"Looks like you're a real ladies man, Sora." Everyone turned to see Riku sitting up, keeping the wet towel to his forehead.

"How long have you been watching?" Sora asked.

"Long enough," he smirked. "Make sure Kairi doesn't get the wrong idea."

"Don't think I won't beat you just 'cause you're healing!" Yuffie threatened. Everyone else laughed, making her feel even more embarrassed. "Please stop," she muttered.

"Ok, we're done," said Sora. Yuffie sighed in relief as the color in her face died down. "Hey, where's Merlin?"

"He went to see Yen Sid," Cid answered. "Somethin' about rumors of a new race ou there."

"A new race?" At that moment, Kairi began to stir.

"Ooh. Where am I?"

The Gullwings flew over to her. "You're safe," answered Yuna. "Don't try and get up too fast."

"Who are you three?"

"The Gullwings. I'm Yuna."

"Name's Rikku!"

"Paine."

Kairi slowly got up and looked around. "Sora! Riku!"

"Nice to see you're up," Sora responded.

"And all of you guys!"

"Good to see you, too" responded Leon with a short wave.

"Are you feeling alright?" asked Aerith, walking toward her.

"A little dizzy," she admitted.

Aerith gently pushed her back down. "Lie down for a little while longer. You should be fine soon."

Kairi nodded. "Where are we?"

"Radiant Garden! More specifically the H.Q. of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee!" answered Yuffie proudly. "Although I guess soon we'll be calling it the "Radiant Garden Maintenance Committee" or something like that."

"Almost done, huh?" asked Sora. Yuffie happily nodded.

"'Radiant Garden,'" muttered Kairi. "Isn't that the place that used to be Hollow Bastion? How did we get here?"

"That bastard brought us here," Riku answered in a grim tone.

"You mean… _He_ brought us here?" Sora asked. Riku nodded. "Why the hell would he do that?"

"From what Yuffie told me, it sounded like he wanted a rematch," answered Leon. "He told her to tell you that he was waiting at the Dark Depths, but when she and I arrived there was no one there."

"_He _wanted a rematch?" asked Kairi. " Shouldn't it be _us _who would challenge _him_?"

"Don't ask me," Yuffie answered. "I'm just the messenger."

"So just who wuz that feller anyway?" asked Cid.

"Not a damn idea," said Riku. "We didn't get a name or even see his face. Watch it if you ever run into to him. He's way powerful, so don't take him on."

"You can't really expect us to just let him pass after what he's done to you guys," said Yuffie. "'Sides, he said he'd have no problem if anyone else joined in on the next fight. I say we take him up on his offer!"

"As much as I'd like to beat his face in, I'd be more than happy if I never saw him again," Kairi stated. "He was totally out of control."

"And just how do you define 'in control?'"

Everyone looked for the voice's source when suddenly a black corridor opened not far from the door. Out stepped the one person no one wanted to see, dressed in an identical cloak to the one that had been destroyed before. Sora, Riku, and Kairi jumped up and summoned their keyblades. Leon brandished his gunblade while Yuffie brought out her shuriken. Cid and Aerith both tensed, ready to fight. Yuna, Rikku and Paine hid behind Kairi, peeking out from behind her shoulders.

"What the hell are you doing here?" demanded Sora.

"I came to see what the holdup was," he answered. "It's been almost a day since I dropped you guys off. Figured you woulda been up and at 'em a while ago. Started to worry 'bout ya."

"As if we'll ever believe that, you monster!" shouted Kairi angrily. "You almost killed us!"

"Ok, so I was a little rough, cut me some slack! Holding back isn't something I'm particularly good at."

"'Holding back?'" Riku asked.

"Like I said, I'm not good at it. Anyway, I'm here to give you your reward for giving me such a good fight."

"And what would that be?"

"Face and name, amigo. I don't just go handing that out to anyone. And trust me, you've earned it."

He pulled back the hood, finally revealing his face. It was long and angular, ending with an almost pointed chin. His chin and jaw was adorned with stubble that connected to his hair and went down to his Adam's apple, but did not extend to his upper lip. His hair was jet-black and straight and shone with a greasy veneer. Several bangs drooped down his face, but some of them seemed intentionally longer than others. The bangs near the center stopped at the tip of his nose while the ones closer to his ears were on the same level as his mouth. The hair on the back of his head was cut short enough that it seemed to tightly hug his neckline. Aside from these careful trimmings the rest had simply been allowed to do as it pleased, giving him a wild and disorganized look. His skin was healthily tan, and his smirk showed off his dazzlingly white teeth. His canines were somewhat long, making them look somewhat like fangs. His eyes were long and wide at the same time, showing off his irises as well as nearly all of the whites of his eyes. Their length was accentuated by his pencil thin eyebrows. The most noticeable feature, however, was the fact that his eyes were a glowing amber, a sure sign of darkness corruption. He appeared young, late teens or early twenties.

"So who the hell _are _you?" asked Sora.

"I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIRE!" he shouted, raising his hands in an equally dramatic fashion.

"You're a loony!" said Cid.

"No shit, Sherlock! What was your first fuckin' clue?!" He let out an insane cackle, making him appear even more unstable. "So what if I'm a little off my rocker? I tried being normal before, and it was boring as hell! Life's much more fun when you've got a few screws loose!"

"You've got more than just a few," answered Yuffie.

At that moment Sora keeled over in pain, clutching his stomach.

"Sora!" Kairi shouted. "What's wrong?"

"It's his wound!" exclaimed Aerith, holding him up.

"Oh, that! I forgot!" the man exclaimed. "Here, let me handle it." He took a step forward and was met with nearly every weapon in the room being held inches from his head.

"Not one step," threatened Riku.

"You think you can fix it? Be my guest." Riku turned to Aerith, who nodded in defeat. Everyone backed off, but just slightly. "Like I thought." He clapped and rubbed his hands together. Within the blink of an eye he shoved an open palm into Sora's gut, sending him across the room. Once again, everyone shoved their weapons into his face. "Ah, ah, ah. No violence. Looked what I pulled out." He raised his hand showing off a mass of darkness about the size of basketball. Sora stood up with a groan and Kairi rushed to his side. The Gullwings, not wanting to be vulnerable, did the same. Kairi watched the red spot on Sora's stomach fade away. The man looked at the ball he held, admiring his handiwork. "Damn. Didn't think I used that much. Guess I don't know my own strength." He turned to his aggressors. "Can I have some room please?" Everyone backed off and lowered their weapons. "_Arigato_."

"Why would you do that?" asked Sora as Kairi helped him to his feet.

"Do what?"

"Help me. What do you have planned?"

"What makes you think I have something planned?" With both hands and what appeared to be a great effort the man condensed the ball of darkness into a small crystal no larger than a fingernail. "This could make a nice earring," he muttered, and pocketed the jewel.

"Because you're the bad guy. There's no way you'd do something like this if it didn't benefit you."

"As a matter of fact, you being alive _does _benefit me. After all, how are we supposed to fight again if you're dead? Also, I think 'bad guy' is a little harsh. I may not be the hero type, but I'm not the bad guy."

"You kidnapped Kairi and force me and Sora into the endurance match from hell before changing your mind and decided to beat us within an inch of our lives!" shouted Riku. "How are you _not _the bad guy?"

"Because I had plenty of opportunities to do much worse, duh."

"Oh? Like what?" asked Kairi.

"Well let's see. This is just off the top of my head but I could've killed you, left you for dead, or," he smirked and turned to Sora, "had my way with your little girlfriend."

Sora snapped and charged forward, swinging he weapon down as hard as he could. The man caught the weapon before it made contact with his head.

"That was completely out of line," seethed Sora.

"Maybe, but I'm not really known for being tactful."

"You're disgusting. You're a monster. You're-"

"Odd."

"That's being generous!"

"No, no. That's my name."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "You're fucking kidding me."

"Well, technically it's a nickname. But it's what everyone I know calls me."

"And where might I find the friends of a Nobody like you?"

"Now that's an insult no matter which definition of the word you're using," replied Odd in all seriousness. "First of all, I'm pretty famous in the Realm of Darkness. Second," he tapped his chest, "I've got something beating right here."

"So instead of being like Xemnas you're more like Maleficent."

"Hey, don't go shoving that bigotry into my face, you conformist. 'Eek! It's the darkness! It's scary! Everyone who uses it is evil! Kill it! Kill it!' Besides, doesn't your friend still use it?"

Sora rested his keyblade at his side. How was he supposed to respond to that?

"Don't compare me to you," Riku butted in. "Yeah, I use the darkness, and I'll agree it's not evil just by itself. But it sure helps with that kinda thing. I've made it a part of me, but I was seduced by it. I've accepted the fact that I'm never getting rid of it, and through that I've learned to control it. But if I could turn back time I'd make sure I would _never _give in. And I know guys like you. I was tricked into using the dark, not knowing what it would do to me. But you went out of your way to get it, knowing full well what it could do. You're _nothing _like me!" Riku turned and nodded to Sora, who flashed a quick smile.

"Thanks," he said.

Odd hung his head and sighed. "Riku, Riku, Riku. I thought you would be the one to understand."

"Save it." Riku raised his keyblade. "You wanted to fight us again. How about we have out rematch now?" Everyone else readied themselves for a fight.

"Fine," he replied and cracked his neck. "Maybe I can knock some sense into you." But before anyone could move something began to let out a short beeping noise. Odd pulled back his sleeve, revealing a watch adorned with black gems. "Fuck," he muttered. "Looks like we'll have to settle this another time. I have a prior engagement." A portal opened behind him. Just before he walked in raised both middle fingers and with a smirk shouted, "Later, conformist fucktards!" And with that he was gone.

"What an asshole!" yelled Yuffie.

"Forget it," said Kairi. "The less I think about him, better."

"Should we take you guys home?" Leon asked. "After all, you guys haven't had your own Gummi ship since you guys parted from Donald, Goofy and the King."

Sora sighed. "As much as I'd like to go back home, I can't just ignore Odd. We've gotta take him down for good."

"Then you might want this." Leon reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small keychain. It was shaped like the Heartless emblem, but it was completely black with no red stitching.

"What is it?" asked Sora as he took it.

"It can open dark portals, or keep them open. Merlin found it and gave it to me. He thought maybe I could make some use of it, but I think it'll be more help to you."

"Wait, but Riku uses the darkness. Can't he just make his own portals?" Yuffie asked.

"I lost that ability after we beat Xemnas," Riku answered. "I can only use it as a weapon now."

"But how can we make use of this?" asked Sora. "We have no idea where he went."

"That's easy," answered Kairi. "There's not doubt that bastard's coming back. If he ends up leaving before we take him down, we use it too keep the portal open and go after him!"

"Right!"

Right then, the computer lit up with a red "Warning" message. Cid quickly seated himself and started on the keys. Several different screens popped up.

"What's wrong, Cid?" asked Aerith.

"We got Heatless on the rise! An' in big numbers, too!" he answered.

"What? Where?" asked Sora.

"Land o' Dragons".

"'The Land of Dragons?' You guys are monitoring them, too?"

"We've been keeping our eyes on all the worlds we know about to see if we can lend a hand," explained Paine.

"We figured since we're almost done with this world, we should help the others too!" added Rikku.

"We'll go," said Sora. "You guys handle your own world."

"You sure?' asked Yuffie.

"Yeah. It'll be just like the old days." Sora turned to Riku and Kairi. "'Cept with different travelling companions, of course."

"I'll always be there to clean up after your messes," joked Riku.

"Oh, thanks."

"This'll be great!" said Kairi excitedly. "I'll finally be able to see the worlds you've been telling me about! And the friends you made, too!"

"You bet! But after we get rid of the Heartless."

"Not gonna make me sit on the sidelines?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No way!" She smiled and nodded, looking particularly pleased.

"Here. Take my ship," Cid said, throwing Sora a key. "It's parked 'hind the marketplace. Best there is!"

"Thanks Cid."

"Jus' make sure ya take good care 'o it!"

"Be safe," said Yuna.

"Take care, Sora," said Leon.

"See ya soon!" shouted Yuffie.

The three nodded and ran out the door.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**Wow. This was long. Although I had some idea of what I wanted to happen, almost everything here came on the fly, especially the part with Yuffie crying happily over Sora. It's not like I'm a Sora/Yuffie shipper, I'm very much Sora/Kairi, but I figured that she would have the closest attachment to him out of all the FF characters. Also, I replaced Cid's toothpick with a cigarette 'cause that's what he has in FFVII, and I refuse to adhere to censorship. Yuna, Rikku and Paine also had a sizable amount of dialogue in this one because I personally like them. I think I gave everybody their time in the spotlight in this chapter, and I'm proud of that.**

**So we finally have the name of our mystery villain (or at least his nickname) and a description of him, just like I promised. So when will he appear next? You'll just have to wait and see. As for the return of the dream sequence, that will be explained eventually. The reason I say "eventually" and not "in X number of chapters" is because I have no idea how many chapters it will be. The jewel made of darkness will be touched on later, but it doesn't have a plot-related significance. As for that one line that Odd shouts out of nowhere, it's actually the very beginning of Arthur Brown's big hit "Fire." It's a decent song, but that part at the beginning I particularly love. With any luck, the next chapter will be up by the end of the week. Read and review please!**


	6. Battle Not With Monsters

**When You're Strange**

Chapter 5

_Battle not with Monsters…_

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"Explain to me why we landed near a mountain top again?" Kairi asked, vigorously rubbing her arms.

"We can't just land in the emperor's palace, and this is the closest place we can land to it," replied Sora, the cold barely affecting him. "Don't worry. It's no too long a hike and, there's a village not too far from here. We can stop there if you want to rest."

"Please."

"Sure we shouldn't have let Leon and the others take you home?" Riku asked with a smirk. "Doesn't look like you're cut out for the whole 'adventure' thing."

"Riku?"

"Yes?"

Kairi walked up to Riku and got into his face, their noses inches apart. Her eyes were harsh and her mouth was curled in a devilish smile. "I have no problem giving Sora a good smack every now and again. What makes you think _you're _safe?"

"Better watch it, Riku," Sora warned. "She hits pretty hard."

Riku raised his arms in defeat. "Ok! I get it! But it doesn't make my concern any less true."

"That may be, but teasing me about it won't help," Kairi responded, and continued down the path.

"No more teasing. I promise."

Kairi looked back and nodded with a smile. The three continued down from the summit. As they began to descend, they began to notice a billowing black cloud of smoke coming from further ahead. The three exchanged worried glances before quickly sprinting down the rest of the way. They arrived to see the small village burnt and destroyed. Not too far away, they could hear the sounds of battle. They quickly followed the source to see a young woman fighting off a group of Heartless.

"Mulan!" Sora cried. The woman turned quickly to see them, then rolled away from an enemy strike just in time. The three rushed to her side, summoning their weapons.

"Sora? What are-?"

"No time! Talk later!"

Sora raised his keyblade, casting magnega and pulling in all the Heartless into an inescapable field. Kairi positioned herself under it and cast Holy, effectively eradicating all the opponents in one blow.

"Well that was quick," Kairi smirked.

"Wanna bet?" Riku asked, pointing to the small army of Heartless that appeared in front of them. "My turn. Dark Ripper!" Riku suddenly vanished, then reappeared facing the opposite direction. A wound opened up on each of the Heartless and dark light began emitting from them, followed soon after by a set of explosion.

"When did you learn to do _that_?" Sora asked with a gaping mouth.

"What?" Riku smirked. "Did you think I was just sitting around while you were training Kairi? Better watch it, Sora. You've always been trailing behind me. At this rate you'll never be able to keep up."

Sora growled in response.

"Ok, ok, stuff it you two," said Kairi, pushing the two apart. "Honestly, I can smell the testosterone coming off you."

Sora folded his arms and snorted.

"Um…" The three turned to the woman, now standing with her weapon sheathed. "Is an introduction too much to ask for?"

"Yeah!" joined in a small creature appearing on her shoulder, wearing a smug look on its face. "Just 'cause you're an old friend don't mean that my girl doesn't get the respect she deserves!"

Sora chuckled. "I wouldn't think of it, Mushu."

"Yeah, that's right. Now come on, I want the whole deal. Give her red-carpet treatment."

"Mushu, a regular introduction is fine," the woman insisted.

"Come on, girl! You're a national hero! You gotta milk it for all it's worth!" the dragon insisted.

"One of the marks of true hero or heroine is humility."

"Oh, alright. But I better be see some respect, or else!" he warned Sora.

"No problem. Guys this is Fa Mulan and Mushu. Donald, Goofy and I fought along side them when we joined the army to fight Shan Yu and his Heartless. Mushu is her family guardian, and obviously a dragon. Like he said, she's a national hero recognized by the emperor."

Mulan blushed a bit. "Actually, it's _Li _Mulan now."

"'Li?'… You mean?" Mulan nodded, somewhat embarrassed. "So you and Captain Shang finally got together, huh?"

"General Shang, now."

"No kidding? Looks like things have been pretty good since four months ago. Nice armor, too."

"Oh, this? It's a gift from the emperor," she explained. The breastplate was dark green and rimmed with bright red. The shoulder pads were also red, with a black design of a dragon painted each. The gauntlets and shin guards were also colored in a similar pattern. "After all, a royal guard has to look the part, right? So, who are your friends?"

"This is Kairi, and that's Riku."

"'Riku?' Aren't you the one that forced his way into the palace and took down Shang?"

"Uh, well…" Riku stuttered. "You see… It was… yeah…"

"Look, I understand why you did it. I can't say I forgive you, but I'm not holding a grudge." Riku sighed with relief. "Look, we can't stay here, or more Heartless are going to show up. I'll lead you guys down the trail. We should be safe once we're inside the walls of the palace." The three nodded and followed suite, not making any attempt to strike up a conversation.

They quickly and cautiously hiked down the mountain trail. After several minutes if hiking they turned a corner to find another small army of Heartless. Unlike their previous encounter at the mountaintop, however, the group before them consisted entirely of Assault Riders and Bolt Towers, the two highest classes of Heartless native to this world.

"Now, what?" Kairi whispered.

"We have to fight," answered Mulan. "This is the only path we can take. We should be fine if we attack as a group."

"No. You stay back. I can take them myself." Everyone turned to stare at Sora, who smirked at Riku. "Come on. You can't expect me let you show me up and not do anything about it."

"Sora! This is no time to-!"

"Let him go, Kairi," Riku insisted, wearing a smug expression on his face. "Let's see if he can really handle himself."

"Riku, you…! Ugh, fine! Go ahead and risk yourself for your stupid macho man contest!"

"Thanks!" replied Sora, and rushed out from behind cover at the creatures in front of him.

"I was kidding!" Kairi screamed after him.

The Heartless instantly caught sight of him and charged. Sora waited until he was few feet from his enemies, then activated a Drive. The force of the transformation sent the ones in front flying back into the rest of the group. Sora's normal black attire was now a deep red and a fleur-de-lis on the end of each sleeve and pant leg. The Kingdom Key in his right hand was now replaced with the Decisive Pumpkin, and in his left the Rumble Rose was now present. He took but a moment to take a ready stance then dashed forward, striking with blinding flashes. Within seconds, every last Heartless was gone. Sora deactivated the Valor form and turned back to his comrades, specifically Riku, and smirked.

"How was _that_?" he asked. Kairi, Mulan and Mushu showed noticeable surprise, but Riku simply grinned while walking toward him.

"Not bad," he answered. "… For an amateur." Sora locked eyes with his friend and rival, neither dropping their confident looks.

"Um… is this… you know," whispered Mulan.

"'Normal?'" Kairi finished. Mulan nodded. "Totally." Kairi calmly strolled over to the two and grabbed them by the ears. "Let's go boys," she said while pulling them along. "We've got more important things to do." Sora and Riku vehemently complained while Mulan and Mushu laughed. Soon Kairi had stopped with the painful action and everyone had arrived at the walls of the palace. Mulan gave a short knock on the imposing doors and a small piece of it slid aside, revealing a pair of eyes.

"Who are they?" asked the man behind the door.

"They're help," she responded.

"What about everyone else?" Mulan sadly hung her head in response. "I understand."

"Tell Shang that we need an audience for three in the emperor's throne room as soon as possible."

"Yes ma'am."

The sliding piece closed and the main doors began to grind open. The four quickly stepped through as soon as there was enough room, and afterward the doors were closed and locked with a large piece of wood. Sora, Riku and Kairi gazed around to see soldiers attending to cannons and catapults.

"I need you guys to wait for a moment," said Mulan. "We need to prepare a proper audience with the Emperor." The three nodded and waited as she headed up the stairs to doors of the palace. They kept quiet, giving a short salute to any soldier willing to be the same. They didn't wait long before a pair of soldiers informed them that the Emperor was ready for them. They were led to the doors of the throne room, which the soldiers opened. Inside was the Emperor sitting patiently on his throne while Shang and Mulan stood on his right and left, respectively. The soldiers closed the doors after the three had entered and they all sat on three pillows that had been set up for them.

"Welcome," greeted the Emperor. "It is good to see a familiar face, as well as some much needed assistance, in these troubled times."

"It's good to be here," answered Sora, "though I wish it was for a different reason."

The Emperor nodded. "I would like to make absolutely clear that I am indeed thankful for your arrival, but I would still like to ask as to why _you _have come. We were expecting aid from another."

"Who?"

"I must confess, I have forgotten her name, but she would be unmistakable if I were to meet her again. She was a young woman with a lively personality."

"Yuffie," the three friends answered simultaneously, smirking.

"Ah, yes. She had paid us an unexpected visit about a month ago. She informed us that she was from another world that was nearing the completion of its repairs, and as such was willing to offer their help to other worlds."

"That'd be Radiant Garden," Kairi added. "I was born there."

"You are…?"

"Kairi."

"Thank you, young lady. Yuffie had arrived not just inform us of her intentions, but also to give us a method in which to contact her and her allies. Shang?" The general stepped forward, presenting Sora with a fist-sized object wrapped in silk. Sora unfolded it, revealing a small transmitter of some kind. "She told us it could be used to contact her group at any time for any nature of problem. We have tried not to abuse this privilege, but the numbers of the Heartless have now grown beyond what we can handle on our own."

"We happened to be in Radiant Garden at the time you sent the alert," Riku explained, while Sora folded the transmitter in its cloth and handed it back to Shang. "We decided to come ourselves so the rest of the committee could focus on other things."

"You would be…?"

"Riku. We, um… Kinda met before… Rather informally…"

"I remember. You were the rude young man who forced his way into my palace, defeated my personal guard, and all for the purpose of informing me of an upcoming threat to my kingdom."

"Um… yeah… about that, you see-"

The Emperor raised a hand, silencing him. "I thank you, but next time please use a less violent method."

Sora, Kairi, Shang, and Mulan all snickered.

"Shut up," Riku muttered. "Anyway," he continued, "what can you tell us about what the Heartless have been up to?"

"They've been amassing an army, and are closing in on us from all sides," answered Shang. "Small groups have been popping up here and there, but the main force is steadily moving forward. And that's not the worst of it."

"Remember that dragon Heartless that we dealt with the last time you were here?" asked Mulan.

"Yeah, that's the one Riku warned us about," answered Sora.

"Well, now there's three of them, and they're leading the charge."

"'Three?'"

"Even worse, we've already had some considerable losses. We've lost too many soldiers, so our only option is to wait here and concentrate our forces."

"Well don't you worry," said Sora, standing up with bravado. "You can leave this to us. We'll handle it, so you don't have to lose anyone else!" Sora turned to Riku and Kairi, who both stood up and nodded.

"Your willingness to aid us is comforting," The Emperor said, "and I do believe that your assistance will assure us victory. However, I must insist that we combine all our forces. Your suggestion to minimize our casualties is appreciated, but I do not think it will be possible for you five to handle this situation alone."

"'Five?'" Kairi asked.

"You didn't think we were just going to sit on the sidelines, did you?" answered Shang.

"You three and my two guards are the best we have," explained the Emperor. "I would insist that you work together."

"Follow us, you three," ordered Mulan. "We need to work out a plan."

Sora, Riku and Kairi gave a short bow before leaving the throne room with Shang and Mulan…

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Kairi's slowed her breathing. She was doing all she could to calm herself.

"Are you alright?"

Kairi turned her head to see General Shang.

"I'm ok," she answered. "I just never expected to be part of an all-out war."

"Look, if you want I can have-"

"No," she said firmly. "I can, and I _will _do what is asked of me. I'm not sitting this out or taking an easier job."

Shang smiled and grunted affirmatively. He liked what he heard. Kairi responded with a short nod and went back to focusing on her assignment.

_Just focus,_ she thought. _Just do what you need to do. You're not the pretty face that needs to be rescued. Never again. Time to prove you can fight with the best._

"I hear them coming," muttered Shang. "EVERYONE READY!" he ordered. Cannons and rockets were aimed at the gates and torches were lit in response. It wasn't long before there was banging at the gate. The sound quickly increased in frequency and volume as the massive walls began to shake. Within seconds the door began to splinter, as did the sturdy wooden bar. Kairi gripped her weapon tighter, attempting to relieve herself of stress. The gate finally shattered open, and the Heartless began to pour into the courtyard.

"FIRE!"

Cannonballs and rockets flew through the air, thundering with deafening force. Heartless were blown left and right, and dispersing with just as easily. However, after the first volley was over the Heartless were still streaming in with great numbers.

"PREPARE THE NEXT VOLLEY!" shouted Shang. "SORA, LET'S GO!"

Sora and Shang led the charge with Mulan, Riku, and Kairi close behind. It was only them, as planned. In order to keep casualties at a minimum it was just going to be them, the best fighters available, fighting off the Heartless between volleys of cannonballs and explosives. The plan wasn't perfect, though. They didn't know just how many Heartless there were, so there was the chance of running out of ammo, or just being overtaken. Worse yet was the chance that the three dragon Heartless arrived before the other Heartless had been eliminated. So far, though, things were proceeding as planned. Sora insisted on keeping Kairi out of the most dangerous part of the plan, but she was intent on fighting like everyone else. It wasn't just her refusal to sit on the sidelines, she was almost eager for this, if a bit nervous. Besides, she needed prove in Sora's eyes that she could handle herself. As she rushed toward her first enemy, an Assault Rider, her training began to flash in her mind.

"_If you can, let your enemy make the first move," Sora told her. "It can be a bit dangerous, but it's usually safer than just rushing in."_

The Assault Rider raised it halberd and swung it downward. Kairi stopped just in time and the weapon came crashing down just in front of her feet. She quickly rushed forward and stabbed at its torso, knocking it back a few paces. Before it could react she swung her weapon around her head and stuck its left side. In response it charged forward and Kairi barely managed to sidestep out of the way. She quickly swung the keyblade up and got her enemy square in the head. The Assault Rider vanished, releasing its trapped heart. Out of the corner of her eye Kairi noticed a Shadow jumping at her. She quickly responded with a horizontal spinning strike, destroying it with one hit. Kairi was surprised with her own strength, as none of the Heartless took any more than a few well-placed hits to defeat. Kairi smirked, her confidence growing. It was just then she remembered another part of her training.

"_Even if you're winning you can't get too confident. All it takes is one wrong move and you're through."_

"_You're one to talk about overconfidence, Sora."_

"_Same to you, Riku. But seriously, don't let it get to your head."_

"_On the flip side, if you're not confident enough you could lose your nerve," added Riku. "No matter what the situation keep thinking 'it's a tough fight, but I can still win.' That should do the trick."_

Kairi dropped her smirk and went back to focusing on her opponents. She continued to attack her enemies with the keyblade, using Holy anytime she felt too crowded. Between her attacks she managed to catch a few glimpses of her friends. Sora and Riku were doing the best, as expected, switching interchangeably between their keyblades and magic. Mulan was doing the same, with Mushu giving some fiery support. She wasn't faring quite as well as Sora and Riku, but she was holding her own. Shang, despite having no magic or substitute for it, was doing remarkably well with just swordplay. He wasn't doing the most damage, but he certainly holding his own.

Right then Kairi heard a lone explosion. She turned back toward the army to see a lone firework had gone off in the air. That was the signal.

"FALL BACK!" Shang ordered.

Kairi cast one last Holy spell, giving her room escape the hordes of Heartless and retreat to the relative safety behind the artillery. Once again smoke, fire, and deafening booms filled the air, raining down projectiles. But no sooner had the smoke cleared that the Heartless rushed again, nearly upon their prey. They were streaming in too quickly, and there was no chance for another volley. It was right then Sora took action. He quickly activated a drive, the force of the transformation forcing back his enemies. His normally black attire was now blue, with his sleeves and pant legs decorated by a flame design. In his hand now was the Photon Debugger, and his feet now hovered above the ground. Sora quickly cast Magnega, pulling in a large group of the Heartless before casting a finishing Thundaga strike. The group of bolts eliminated the enemies caught in the field, as well as halting the advance of several others.

"Go!" he shouted. "I can hold them off while you pull back!"

Shang nodded. "GRAB THE ROCKETS AND RETREAT TO THE PALACE GATES! LEAVE THE CANNONS!" The soldiers quickly followed their orders as Mulan and Shang assisted. Riku, however, was advancing toward the oncoming horde. He summoned his energy into his left hand and let loose with Dark Firaga, unleashing a ball of violet flame. It exploded violently on contact with its target, throwing anything near the blast every which way. This gave him the opportunity to begin hailing on his enemies with weapon. Intent on not being left out, Kairi also charged the horde, firing Pearls as she advanced. When she was within range she wildly swung her weapon, destroying or damaging enemies left and right. After she had forced her way deep enough into the crowd she cast Holy, obliterating nearby enemies and giving her ample room to move.

"What are you doing!?" shouted Sora, who was continually casting the same Magnega/Thundaga combo. "I said I'd hold them off! You two get where it's safe!"

"When you say 'you TWO,'" Riku grunted in response with his keyblade destroying another enemy, "you mean 'Kairi,' right?"

"Did you really think I'd sit out after all this?" Kairi shouted, casting Holy once again. "I thought you said you weren't gonna force me to sit on the sidelines anymore!"

"That was before the plan went all to hell!" Sora shouted back, shooting magic bullets from the tip of his weapon as he bought time for his magic to recover.

"Lame excuse!" Kairi yelled back, firing a Pearl orb point blank at a Bolt Tower, destroying it.

Once again, a flare went off to signal that the army was ready. The three comrades quickly forced their way out of the enemy ranks, retreating up the steps to the palace.

"FIRE!"

Another wave of rockets came streaming down upon the dark army. By this time Sora's Wisdom form had been depleted, and all three friends ducked down to ensure that the projectiles soared harmlessly over their heads. After the last explosion had finished the three turned to see the damage that had been done. The rockets had indeed destroyed a large number of Heartless. More importantly, however, the end of the enemy ranks was now visible.

"We can end it now," muttered Kairi, taking the opportunity to rest a few moments.

"Yeah," agreed Sora. He stood up; taking a deep breath and letting out a sharp exhale. "I think I've got one more Drive left in me." He look down toward her and extended his hand. She quickly took it and he pulled her to her feet. Riku was already up by this point. "Sorry," he said to Kairi. "I keep forgetting how strong you are. I promise, no more forcing you to stay out of the fight."

"As if you could," she grinned, taking her stance.

"Yeah, well, the important thing is I'm not going to _try _to anymore. Now lets finish this!"

Sora activated a Drive once again, unleashing a flash of light. When Kairi opened her eyes she expected to see him in a different colored outfit with another keyblade. Instead she was horrified to see that he was no longer wielding a weapon and nearly everything about him was now black. His clothing, hair and skin were now jet-black, and fumes of darkness rose from his hands. The most disturbing feature was his eyes, which were now glowing yellow orbs, just like those of a Heartless.

Before Kairi could make any sort of reaction Sora sprinted forward with unbelievable speed, ramming into the horde like a battering ram. Several Heartless went soaring into the air and vanished before they hit the ground. Sora continued his attack, wildly clawing at the enemies in path as he continued forward. With each swing of his arm a slew of Heartless vanished. Within seconds he had forced his way into the center of the group and then proceeded to slam both fists into the ground. A massive shockwave emanated from the impact and chunks of the stone courtyard flew up into the air along with scores of Heartless. Before any of them had hit the ground dark tendrils shout out from underground. They lashed out at their targets, suspended helplessly in the air, eliminating them with inhuman ease. In moments every last enemy that had been thrust into the air was gone, long before any had even begun to fall back to the earth. The tendrils retreated back into the earth and Sora quickly spun around to face the half of the remaining Heartless closest to the palace. He quickly swiped the air in front of him, a seemingly pointless gesture with deadly consequences. Every Heartless in front of him was terminated by a burst of dark energy that erupted from the earth in a deafening boom. Before that attack had even finished he turned toward the rest of the horde. A hailstorm of dark bolts shot from his palms and within seconds every last Heartless was gone. Kairi stared in disbelief, constantly having to remind herself that what she just saw wasn't a dream… or a nightmare.

"Wh-What is this?" asked Mulan, who had now worked her way down to the bottom level of the courtyard along with the Shang and the rest of the army. Sora stood motionless, not even turning around to look at them.

"Be careful," warned Riku. "There's no telling what he'll do the way he is now."

Suddenly Kairi remembered when Sora had been turned into a Heartless and how she had helped to bring him back to his old self. She dashed forward before Riku or anyone else could stop her, determined to somehow fix the situation. Before she had taken more than a few jogging steps she now found herself face to face with Sora, his yellow orbs peering at her just inches from her face. Somehow he had covered several yards of distance in an instant, so swiftly that it looked as though he was always in front of her. Kairi froze, half expecting to have her guts ripped out of her in the next second, but Sora made no movement.

"Kairi, get back here!" Riku yelled. Kairi motioned for him to wait, not taking her eyes off of Sora. She gulped.

"Sora," she softly began. "It's me, Kairi. You have to remember me."

Sora took a few steps back, quizzically cocking his head to the side like a confused animal.

_He's still in there, _she thought. _I can reach him._

Out of nowhere an uproarious laughter rang through the air. Kairi looked up und was horrified to see none other than Odd himself perched on top of the castle walls. He was clutching his stomach with both arms and keeling over with laughter. Tears were streaming down his because of whatever he thought was so funny.

"Oh my god! This is too rich!" he shouted between fight of laughter. "It looks like for all those bigoted epitaphs even the hero of light isn't above a little darkness!" He once again began laugh uncontrollably.

"You!" Kairi screamed, stepping forward. "You did this, didn't you?! What've you done to-!?"

Sora's arm shot out in front of her, stopping her from moving forward. His eyes were focused intently on Odd as he growled menacingly.

"Moi?" Odd asked holding a hand to his chest, his fits of laughter finally subsiding. "Honestly, I'm flattered…" Suddenly he was gone. "…But you give me _far _too much credit."

Everyone spun around to see him standing on one of the cannons. Odd has just gone from one end of the courtyard to the other. And since there was no presence of a portal that could only mean that he done this by pure speed. Odd leapt over the army, landing only a few yards away from Soar and Kairi.

"I'm afraid that this all your boyfriends doing," he continued, wiping the tears from his eyes. Sora quickly stepped in front of Kairi, protecting her, a motion that put her at ease despite his current form. Odd began giggling incessantly.

"What the hell is up with you!?" shouted Riku, readying his keyblade.

"Isn't that cute? Even when he's almost a Heartless he still wants to protect you." Odd's genuine happy smile quickly became more deranged and threatening. "And since it doesn't really look like the gears are turning in the top floor, I'd guess that what's dictating his actions in this form is his emotions. Namely, wanting to keep you safe…" Odd cracked his neck and his knuckles, "…and wanting to beat the shit out of me. Which is oh-so-fine with me."

"Oh yeah?!" said Kairi, stepping forward. "Well he's not the only you have to-"

Before she could finish Sora grasped the hood of Kairi's outfit and tossed at Riku, who barely managed to catch her before falling to the ground.

"What the hell, Sora!?" he shouted

"Looks to me like he wants to fight me himself," Odd answered. "Perfect." Odd snapped his fingers and from them emanated a force akin to that of a sonic boom, forcing everyone except Sora flying backwards. With a wave of his hand an impenetrable barrier sectioned the courtyard in half, cutting off the two combatants from everyone else. Odd raised his arms, summoning a dark aura eve more intense than what he had summoned in his previous bout. Sora to an offensive feral stance, growling even more menacingly than before. Odd hunched over in a sort of predatory stance. If anyone else could've seen the look in his eyes, it would've sent shivers down their spine.

"Don't disappoint me, kiddo."

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**Ugh! I will be quite honest here, this chapter was a grind to write. You'll probably notice from the lower quality of writing that my "creative juices" were running low. Also, I've been busy with finals and things like that, not to mention moving. Honestly writing this chapter didn't become fun until the talk with the Emperor. Also, I'd like to apologize for some of the poor fighting sequences here. I'm not really good at describing fights were there are large groups of people fighting each other. I'm more suited to small matches, especially one-on-one fights, where I can describe every motion with intricate detail. And if you hadn't guessed yet, you'll be seeing a lot of that in the next chapter.**

**Anyway, the title comes from an old quote (I believe from ****Frederick Nietzsche****) that goes "fight not with monsters, lest ye become a monster." I figured it was as good a title as any for a chapter when Anti-Form gets unleashed. God, I LOVE anit-form! So freakin' awesome! Anway, hopefully I'll have the next chapter up in a few weeks. 'Till then!**


	7. Dark Force

**When You're Strange**

Chapter 6

_Dark Force_

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Sora and Odd both rushed each other, covering the distance between them in but a split second. As if mirroring each other, they both punched each other in the face with their right fist. The resulting force of the two attacks connecting sent both combatants soaring backwards with an ear-splitting boom. Sora landed on his back and continued to slide across the ground. Odd back flipped and landed on his feet, sliding while standing upright. He raised his hand; firing dark bolts from his palm while still sliding backwards. Sora was unable to react and crashed into the far wall, being pelted with the bolts of darkness moments after. At this point Odd had finally stopped sliding and launched a tendril from his right hand into the cloud of dust and debris that Sora had made. The tendril tensed as it latched onto its target, which was violently pulled forward. Odd smirked as he summoned dark energy into his left palm, dragging Sora along the ground.

However, Sora quickly stood upright and halted his movement. Clutching hold of the tendril he swung Odd up into the air and slammed him back down towards the earth. Odd was so stunned he lost the technique he was preparing. Sora repeated the action, once again leaving an impact crater in the stone ground of the imperial city. He swung his opponent overhead in a circular motion, picking up speed and momentum. It was at this time that Odd severed the tendril from his hand and as it dispersed into nonexistence he went soaring through the air towards the wall. Odd landed on the stone structure feet first, and then proceeded to jump towards Sora like a rocket at inhuman speed. Sora quickly reacted by slamming his fist into the ground producing a shockwave that stopped Odd's assault and forced him backwards. He then quickly rushed forward, grabbed his opponent by the ankle, and hurled him at the wall. Odd was unable to react and crashed into the stone structure causing chunks of debris to fall on him. Sora wasted no time and summoned dark energy into both his palms. After a brief moment he joined them and shot an orb of dark power at the pile of rubble. The resulting blast raged with light and sound, leaving a massive hole in the wall. For a moment nothing happened.

"_SHORYUKEN!_"

The ground at Sora's feet suddenly erupted. Out burst Odd, connecting an uppercut with Sora's chin and sending him hurdling skyward. With a flash of speed Odd was now also in the air, dropping towards Sora who was still being flung upward by the force of the hit. Odd somersaulted forwards as he dropped. When he was almost upon his opponent he extended his right leg and screamed "BANZAI!" His heel connected with Sora's forehead, sending him plummeting downward. The impact produced an ear-splitting bam and sent debris and dust upward and in all other directions. Odd remained airborne, levitating himself without effort, admiring the results of his attack. His joy was short lived as just then a tendril shot out from the dust and wrapped itself around his neck, violently pulling him down. Just before he hit the ground Sora released his grasp on his enemy to hit him point blank with a ball of dark energy from his free hand, knocking Odd skyward once more. In a move that mimicked Odd's, Sora vanished in a burst of speed, reappearing above where Odd was now heading. His right hand emanated with a faint glow just before Sora punched his opponent square in the nose. A fiery explosion of dark energy sent Odd crashing into the same crater that Sora had been in, deepening it. Rather than wait to see what happened next, Sora rained down dark bolts upon Odd's new location. Each exploded on contact, sending more debris outward and widening the crater. Sora finished his assault and fell to the earth, gracefully landing on both feet. He once again summoned dark energy into both palms and joined them after a brief charge, sending another orb of dark energy at the crater. Without warning a thunderous yell erupted from the center of the crater and an invisible force immediately cleared the air of any dust as well as sending rubble out in all directions. The force halted the attack, which seemed to be attempting to force it's way through some invisible barrier. After a moment the dark orb lost the battle and was forced skyward where it erupted harmlessly.

As Odd quieted the unseen force also dispersed. He panted and stared down his opponent, who growled in response. After a few seconds he took and deep breathe and exhaled. He stood tall once more, no longer panting, looking as if nothing at all had a happened. Odd smirked and began to chuckle. Within moments, he threw his head back and roared with laugher.

"I knew it!" he proclaimed. "I knew you had it in you! Just look at all the destruction you've caused, the result of all your rage! It's magnificent!" He stared down Sora, who appeared to be completely unaffected by anything Odd had just said. "Well don't just stand there!" Odd continued. "Keep going! Show me what else you've got!"

Sora sprinted towards his target on all fours with blinding speed. Odd slammed his right fist into the ground and spikes of darkness soon erupted from the earth. More and more spikes erupted, heading forward to meet Sora who dodged to the side. The trail of spikes turned and continued to follow him, nipping at his heels as he continued towards his opponent. Odd used his free hand to summon a dark ball of flame and quickly launched it at his aggressor. Sora quickly ducked under the ball, which exploded behind him, hurling him at Odd who backhanded him to the side. As Sora bounced across the ground Odd stopped the spike attack and shot a tendril straight up. After extending some distance a mallet head formed at the end. The dark hammer swung down at the still bouncing Sora. Just before impact he used a blast of darkness to force himself away from the hammer head. He quickly righted himself and dashed at Odd while summoning dark energy into both palms. Odd dispersed the hammer and mimicked Sora. Both combatants' palms began to glow with a menacing light. When they were both just a few yards from each other they joined their hands, both unleashing a giant ball of darkness at each other. The two attacks met and instantly exploded in a massive and deafening blast. A split second later both opponents had smashed into opposite walls and were covered by falling rubble.

As the dust settled it was Odd who freed himself from the debris first. He quickly dusted himself off before laughing heartily once more.

"Man! You don't disappoint, spiky! Come on outta there so we can have another go!"

Odd was pleased when he saw the rubble at the other end of the battleground shift. He walked toward it casually, as if he was approaching an old friend. When the rubble had cleared he stopped and cocked his head, confused. Instead of the dark animalistic form he had been fighting but moments ago, Sora emerged completely normal. Shaking, he managed to pull himself from the rubble then stumbled forward.

"Where… What happened?" Sora muttered, completely disoriented. He shook his head to try and shake off the feeling of vertigo. After a few moments, just as he was beginning to feel better, he noticed a pair of black boots in front of him.

"Well, this is bit disappointing."

Sora looked up and was stunned to find Odd standing in front of him.

"YOU!" Sora summoned his keyblade and swung at Odd, who easily sidestepped out of harm's way. The violent attack threw the still recovering Sora off balance, causing him to fall flat on his face. He pulled himself to his feet and faced his enemy once more. "When did you get here?"

Odd raised an eyebrow. "You've _got _to be kidding. We've been duking it out for like the past twenty minutes."

"What are you talking about?"

"I guess you don't remember going all dark-mode either. Or wiping out a few hundred Heartless like they were bugs, do you?"

Sora just blinked and scanned his surroundings; particularly surprised at the significant amount of damage the palace courtyard had received.

"I did this?" he asked.

"_We _did this."

"How?"

"Why don't I show you?"

Odd stabbed his hand into Sora's chest. Sora was unable to do anything but watch Odd's devilish grin.

"No offense meant, but your dark form was way better an opponent than you'll ever be," he explained as darkness began to flow from his arm into Sora. "I'd just like to go another round with it, if you don't mind."

Even after odd had removed his arm Sora felt the cold feeling of Darkness quickly spreading through him. He collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest in pain as his clothing and skin began to turn black. Within moments, Sora had now completely taken his previous form. Odd took a few steps back as he smirked.

"Round two. Ready? Fight!" he exclaimed with glee.

Sora rose, his bright yellow eyes scanning his pitch-black body. He stared down his enemy, anger clearly visible in his expression.

"What did you do to me!?" he shouted. Odd's eyes widened, obviously not expecting Sora to talk. "Answer me!" Sora tried to summon his keyblade, but was shocked to find that he couldn't. He tried again and again to no avail. Realizing that his weapon was not going to be appearing anytime soon, Sora rushed forward with his fist raised. Odd easily caught the punch, grasping Sora's fist with his hand.

"Ok, this is not at all what I was hoping for," Odd stated, twisting Sora's arm until he keeled over in pain. "You're not fast or strong, you have no dark powers, no killing intent, and now you can talk for some reason." He scratched his chin with his free hand until his eyes widened with realization. "I get it! Before it was one of your Drives, but this time I tried to force you into that state. Guess it doesn't work that way," He grabbed Sora by the collar and effortlessly raised him into the air. "And all those powers you were using you used on instinct, like a Heartless. Now that you're actually thinking, you can't use any of them 'cause you don't know how." He tossed Sora a short distance away, who landed square on his back. "Which means the fight's over. Bummer."

Odd snapped his fingers, dispersing the barrier around the battlefield. Kairi wasted no time and sprinted towards Sora as Riku struggled to keep up with her. Mulan and Shang led the soldiers towards Odd, all of their weapons drawn. Kairi stopped a few yards from Sora, panting heavily as she gazed at him.

"Sora?" she asked, still panting. Sora turned to her and quickly got up. He started towards her but stopped as she took a few steps back. "It's…. really you… right?" Sora opened his mouth to answer but stopped. He gazed at his hands and clenched his fists, feeling both anger and shame. He turned towards Odd, still looking smug as the imperial army began to approach him from his sides and back.

"Change me back," he ordered.

Odd folded his arms. "Make me."

Sora snapped. "CHANGE ME BACK!" Sora's voice boomed throughout the courtyard, echoing for several moments afterwards. A small dark aura began to form around his body. Everyone stared wide-eyed at Sora except for Odd, who looked thoroughly pleased.

Odd sighed. "Fine, you crybaby," he mocked. He raised his hand and Sora found himself hovering a few inches off the ground, unable to move. Odd twirled his hand in a circular motion as darkness began to slowly flow from out of Sora chest and into his hand. After the last of the darkness had been removed Sora fell to his hands and knees, once again assuming his normal form. Kairi and Riku quickly rushed to his side. Odd took a waft of the dark mass now in his hand, and then he quickly snorted up all the swirling energy. He let loose with a single wheezing cough that also let a small black cloud escape his throat. It quickly dispersed and disappeared. "Damn! That's some good shit!" he shouted, more to himself than anyone else.

"Freak," Riku muttered, helping Kairi pull Sora to his feet.

"You in the coat," shouted Shang. Odd turned to look at who was addressing him. "Surrender peacefully, or you will be taken by force."

Odd just stared as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. After several moments, he began to stifle a laugh. Seconds later, he fell on his back, laughing like a hyena as he rolled across the ground.

"'Surrend'- HAHAHAHA! –'By force!' – HAHAHAHA! Oh Christ! That's a good one! HAHAHAHAHA! You really had me going there! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"SILENCE!" Shang shouted in anger. I took Odd a good five minutes to successfully stifle his laughter.

"You're-heh- you're serious aren't you?" Shang grunted in response. "You do know what you're getting into, right?" Shang took a fighting stance, as did Mulan and the rest of the soldiers. "Alright then," Odd's smirk curled devilishly, "I hope you've enjoyed the use of you're testicles." Shang's mouth dropped open. He had never heard such a vulgar threat before. Odd's smile suddenly dropped as he put his hand to his ear, listening intently. "Is there a parade on the way here?"

Before anyone could respond a thunderous roar emitted from beyond the castle gates. Soon one of the dragon Heartless, a Storm Rider, came into view.

"FALL BACK!" ordered Shang. The army retreated along with Riku and Kairi who managed to help along a still exhausted Sora. Odd simply stood still and stared.

"That has to be the ugliest parade float I've ever seen," he said to himself.

As the Storm Rider continued to approach tremors began to arise. Within moments an enormous Heartless burst from underground. Although it did bear some resemblance to a dragon, it looked more like a lion. It stood on four legs, all of them baring long claws. Its body was rough and mostly brown with a crest around its head colored bright yellow. It's upper jaw extended past it's lower, and two large fangs gave it an appearance similar to a sabertooth tiger. Its eyes were blank yellow orbs and the Heartless emblem was imprinted on its chest.

"Ugliest until I saw that," Odd said, once again to no one in particular.

As the Storm Rider entered the grounds and the Lion-Dragon pulled itself out of it's hole an ear piercing screech came from above. The third of the monstrous Heartless arrived, and this one couldn't be mistaken for anything other than a dragon. Its body was long and snakelike, possessing two small, clawed arms and no legs. The top of its body was covered in deep red scales while the belly was a bright yellow. An orange mane trailed from the top of its head to the middle of its back, and two long whiskers protruded from its snout. Its eyes, like the others, were yellow and round and the Heartless emblem was printed on what could be thought to be its chest. It flew by some unseen energy and approached the other two giants. The three bore down at Odd and simultaneously screamed at him, their voices shaking the entire imperial city. Odd, however, stood completely unfazed. After a few moments of a stare down, Odd turned his head towards Sora.

"Hey, spiky!"

"What?!" Sora asked, still considerably upset and unwilling to talk to him.

"Mind if I handle these three?"

Sora just stared, dumbfounded. The person who just a few minutes ago was making his life miserable was now offering to deal with a rather large problem for him. He looked to Riku and Kairi, who both wore the same expression he had. The three nodded to each other.

"Go for it," Sora answered. Odd beamed a smile and bowed.

"¡Gracias, señor!" He turned to the Heartless who still bore down menacingly on him. "So, who wants to die first?"

As if to answer his question the Lion-Dragon opened its mouth. Earth and rubble began to gather in front of its face. Moments later an enormous boulder had formed, roughly the size of the monster's head.

"Ooh! Are we playing dodgeball?"

The beast launched the stone ball, which went hurdling forward with amazing speed. It connected with its intended target, forcing him backwards several yards. Soon it stopped.

"I caught it!" yelled Odd in a singsong voice. He easily raised the massive projectile above his head. "Know what that means?" He cocked his arms back, preparing for a throw. "You're OUT!"

The projectile flew towards its source even faster then it had been initially launched. The Storm Rider and Flame Dragon flew upwards to avoid it. The Lion-Dragon, lacking this ability, took the hit square on its forehead. The boulder shattered upon contact, and its target was sent flying through the air before smashing the wall behind it. As the dust settled it made no attempt to move.

"One down…"

A the Flame Dragon screeched as it dive bombed Odd, biting a large chunk out of the spot that he had been standing but milliseconds ago.

"Whew! That was close."

Odd had moved only a few yards to the left of his last location. The Heartless quickly turned to him and took in a sharp breath and Odd, surprisingly, did the same. The Heartless shot a stream of fire from its throat while Odd fired his own. Odd's flame, however, was jet black and at a much higher magnitude than his opponents. The stream of pitch-black flame overpowered the bright red one, almost seeming to eat it up, before engulfing the Flame Heartless' face. It screeched in pain and thrashed about wildly, falling onto its back as it tried in vain to put out the flames.

"That's two…"

With a graceless thud the Storm Rider touched ground behind him and began charging an orb of lightning from its horns. With a roar it shot the orb at Odd, who disappeared in another flash of speed.

"Hi there," he said, making his location just below the Heartless' head known. Before it could react Odd slammed a fist into its stomach, seemingly knocking the air out of it. "_SHIN-!_" he shouted as he rocketed upward, slamming an uppercut into its chin_._"_-SHORYUKEN!_" he shouted as a bust of energy shot him up further, forcing the Storm Rider to go skyrocketing straight upward. When he landed on the ground, the dragon was still soaring upward.

"And now to finish this!" he proclaimed in an almost heroic tone. With a burst of speed he quickly grabbed the Lion-Dragon's leg and threw the beast upward with little effort. It was at this point the Storm Rider began to fall. In another flash he grabbed the Flame Dragon's tail. He lifted the beast into the air and slammed it back to the ground, knocking it unconscious. He turned to the falling dragon, which was mere seconds from crashing into the ground. Odd swung the Flame Dragon like a bat, connecting with the Storm Rider and sending it hurdling into the airborne Lion-Dragon. The force of the impact caused both creatures to go soaring towards the mountain summit. Odd spun the third Heartless over his head two more times before throwing it at the other two monsters. As they all flew through the air Odd took a fighting stance, cupping his hands as if he was holding something. A dark aura began to form around him as a ball of violet light shone from between his hands. "_Shinkuu…HADOUKEN!_" He thrust both arms forward, releasing the ball of energy. In moments it erupted in an ear splitting explosion, destroying all three of the helplessly airborne Heartless. The shockwave produced by the explosion was so great that everyone else was blasted onto his or her backs. Sora picked himself up and just stared.

_You've _got _to be kidding me!_

Before he knew it Odd had warped directly in front of him, wearing a particularly smug and satisfied look on his face. Raising both arms triumphantly into the air he shouted "_YATTA!_" His voice echoed throughout the ruined courtyard for nearly half a minute before finally ending. Sora, Riku and Kairi all stood up, ready to summon their weapons if necessary. Odd let out a satisfied sigh before finally making eye contact with the three in front of him.

"So, whatcha think? Pretty badass, right?"

Sora quickly slugged him, causing him to stumble back a few steps. After recovering from the initial shock, Odd glowered menacingly at Sora.

"The fuck was that for!?"

Kairi and Riku both struck the top of his head with their weapons, causing him to fall flat on his butt.

"THE HELL!? WHAT IS YOUR DEAL!?"

"WHERE SHOULD WE START!?" Kairi yelled back. "YOU KIDNAPPED ME AND THEN TRIED TO KILL US! DID YOU REALLY THINK WE'D BE HAPPY TO SEE YOU UNDER _ANY _CONDITION!?"

Odd groaned as he brought himself to his feet. "For the last time, I don't want you dead. I want you alive so I can keep coming back to fight you again and again and again! Why would I want to destroy such a great source of fun for me?"

"Well you've already had your fun, so why don't you stop following us?" demanded Riku.

"Aww, isn't that cute?" said Odd, thinly disguising his anger behind an unconvincing smile. "You think I'm your own personal stalker!" He let his smile drop before continuing. "Sorry to disappoint you, but the reason I came here was because I had some time to kill and I felt a large surge of Darkness coming from this world. I figured I'd just come here and beat the shit out of some Heartless before I needed to be somewhere again. Finding you here was completely coincidental! "

"All the same, you haven't done much make us feel grateful for your arrival," Sora commented, clenching his fist and trying to control his anger.

"Oh sure! I've done some horrible things since I've been here, haven't I?" he retorted, thickly laying on the sarcasm. "I stopped you're practically Heartless of a boyfriend from potentially killing everyone here!" he said addressing Kairi. He turned back to Sora before continuing. "_And _I took care of _three_, count 'em, _three _huge Heartless that you guys were gonna have to fight anyway! I'm a bad person, aren't I?"

"And let's not forget how tried to force me back into that dark state," added Sora. "And that you threatened to kill the imperial army."

Odd was literally shaking with rage. "All you needed to say was two words, just two little words. Just one half-hearted little 'thank you,' and I would've up and left. But you know what?" He pulled back his sleeve, taking a quick glance at his watch. "I've still got plenty of time before I need to be somewhere. So how about I spend that time beating the ever-loving crap out of YOU!?"

As he spoke those last words an intense aura burst from his body sending Shang, Mulan, and the entire imperial army flat onto their backs. Sora, Riku and Kairi barely managed to keep themselves from falling over, sliding back several yards before finally stopping. Sora summoned his keyblade and took his stance along his friends. It was at this time he noticed a stream of pure light begin to descend from the sky. I twisted and turned several times before finally touching ground. Odd noticed Sora's confused expression and turned to gaze at the shining thread. Soon a bead of light began to travel down the path the string of light had set.

"Oh man," muttered Odd. "I know that light show…"

As the ball of light touched down five figures emerged from it. Each one was identical to the others in every way. They wore golden helms that covered their entire heads, extending forward to a point making them look somewhat like beaks. Near where the ears would be were tiny angelic wings. Their shoulders, chests, as well as shins and feet were also adorned armor. Long white sleeves covered their arms down to their wrists, their hands were covered by white gloves, and white leggings tightly gripped their long legs. Each was armed with a small circular shield held by their right hands and short sword that was currently sheathed and resting at their hips. Most eye-catching of all, however, was their ethereal and almost silky wings extending from their backs. All five stood completely silent.

"What the hell are they?" Riku muttered.

"Hopefully help," answered Kairi.

"Don't bet on it," Odd chimed in.

In a flash all five shot forward. Two attacked Odd, who caught their swords with his hands. Sora and Riku both barely managed to block the attack with their own weapons. The attackers still pushed forward, sliding them backwards several feet. The final aggressor smacked Kairi's keyblade from her hand before she could adequately respond. It quickly grabbed her by the wrist and dashed back towards the pillar of light. Kairi quickly summoned her weapon back into her hand and struck her would be captor across the back of its head. After it released her she fell to the ground, then turned to see the being preparing to slash her. Sora saw this and pushed his opponent to the side, then proceeded to cast thundaga. The bolt came down and struck its target just in time save Kairi, who quickly got to her feet and ran from her attacker. The figure that Sora forced away took advantage of his change of focus to attack. Riku saw this as well and with his free hand fired a Dark Firaga ball, striking the enemy and saving Sora. With his attention shifted, Riku's opponent smacked his keyblade from him, preparing to stab him through the chest. Odd noticed this and hurled one of his opponents into the other creature, knocking them both away from Riku. He then slammed his fist into the other attacker, then struck it again with a blast of dark energy, sending it flying into the enemy that had attempted to take Kairi. All five of the enemies quickly recovered and flew towards Kairi, who took a defensive stance to prepare. To her surprise, Odd jumped in the way, raising a barrier just in time for all five of the aggressors to slam into it.

"Take a hint, fellas," he said with smirk, proceeding to blast them all back with a dark shockwave. "She's taken!" He slammed his fist into the ground causing five black spikes to impale each opponent through the chest. Despite this they didn't show any significant signs of slowing down. Odd's free hand began to emanate with a dark glow before he placed his hand on his other arm. The glow quickly raced across his arm and then across the spikes. When it met the beings at the end of the spikes it caused them to explode. Despite the fact that they had literally been blown to pieces, there was no blood. Soon the pieces dissolved into sparkles of light that soon vanished. As Odd pulled his had from the ground, the spikes vanished. Kairi took the opportunity to cast a Pearl spell at Odd, who deftly dodged and grabbed her wrist.

"Most people would say 'thank you,'" he stated in an annoyed voice. Kairi simply glared in response.

"Let her go!" Sora ordered, he and Riku now within striking distances. Odd did as he was told, but not before plastering an extremely wide grin on his face. Sora relaxed, if only slightly. "You know what those things were, don't you?"

Odd's grin stretched even further. "Maybe…"

Kairi stuck the tip of her keyblade against his temple. "Talk, or I'll blow your head off." She threatened

"Well that's a little dark for cute little Kairi, don't you think?" Odd's grin had still not left his face.

"Don't think I won't do it."

In a flash, Odd was gone and so was Kairi's keyblade.

"Now, now. A cutie like you shouldn't be so angry all the time." The three turned to see he was only a few yards away, twirling the weapon like a baton. "Keep scowling and you'll get these ugly wrinkles on your forehead that'll make you look like an old hag." Kairi raised her hand and summoned her weapon back to it. This didn't seem to surprise Odd in the least. "Besides, if you really wanted to ask me something, you just had to ask nicely. Just say, 'Odd, please tell us what you know.' Is that so hard?"

"Tell us what you know," demanded Riku.

"You forgot to say 'please.'"

"Like hell I'm gonna say that!"

"Jeez! Whatever happened to heroes being a pinnacle of morality? A symbol of what everyone else should be like? Honestly, you guys sure aren't out of any comic books. Maybe a manga, though."

"Do you _ever _turn off?" Sora muttered.

"Sorry kiddo, but it'll take something pretty big to make me all serious… Something like that."

The three turned to see several threads of light begin to fall from the sky, twisting and turning as they descended just like the one from before.

"Oh boy…"muttered Sora.

"Now what?" Riku asked to no one in particular.

"Not sure, but…" The three turned their heads just in time to see Odd raise his hand, sending out another sonic boom that blasted them to the other side of the courtyard. Once again he raised a barrier, cutting the courtyard in two.

"You jackass!" yelled Kairi. "What the hell!"

"Sorry cutie, but I gotta make sure my new friends don't get killed. Don't worry, I'll handle this."

"We're not your friends,"

"Keep telling yourself that, hunny."

_He really _is _insane, _Kairi thought.

Odd whistled, summoning Twitch to his shoulder. "Ready to lay the smackdown, little guy?" The small Heartless arched its back, preparing for a fight. "That's what I like to hear."

As more of the angelic creatures began to exit from their shining transports, Odd and his Heartless companion began to glow with a dark aura. The Shadow dropped off his shoulder and stood ready by his foot. The creatures' numbers were now in the hundreds, all ready to annihilate all in their path. The dark auras around the dark combatants had darkened to the point that it seemed their bodies were smoking. The angelic beings attacked, hundreds of opponents dashing forward with weapons drawn. When they were seconds from being upon their targets both of the dark beings erupted with dark energy, not only unleashing a massive shockwave but also cloaking both with a veil of pitch black smoke. As the stunned army got its bearings the black cloak began to disperse. Odd's eyes were now pitch black and smoke rose from his mouth and nostrils. But the biggest change was with Twitch who was no longer and Shadow but a Neoshadow. Both quickly took a feral stance before dashing forward. In a flash many of winged warriors had been diced to pieces. Now roughly in the center of the army the two unleashed another dark shockwave, once again covering themselves in the dark fumes. As the smoke cleared Odd was shown to have no change from before. Twitch again had gone into a new form, this time an Invisible. The two comrades stood back to back and spun quickly, firing bolts of darkness in all directions. The angelic fighters were quickly losing their forces. Once more the two released a shockwave and were coated with the black fumes. However, the force of this shockwave was considerably greater than the two from before, and the smoke began to tower several feet into the air. Once it dissipated Twitch once again had a new form, this time towering over everything else as a Darkside. Odd stood on its shoulder, grinning menacingly at the figures below.

"Finish 'em!"

The enormous Heartless raised its right hand placed his left on the opposite wrist. A glowing ball of darkness began to form and all the angelic beings were pulled towards it. Soon the remnants of their army were helplessly orbiting the ball when it suddenly burst into a gigantic mass of energy. The creatures were sucked in as the mass expanded, soon reaching the size where it touched the ground. Once it did it held its size for a few moments before gradually fading away into nothing. Not a single remnant of the opposing force remained. The Darkside began to melt away as Odd gracefully fell to the ground. Soon the giant figure had dispersed into its original form and the small Shadow landed on its master's shoulder. Odd's black and smoking attributes had dispersed, giving him his original appearance as well.

"And that's a wrap."

Odd snapped his fingers and the barrier dispersed. Sora immediately shot forward with amazing speed, taking a hard swing at Odd, who easily caught his weapon. The force of the impact actually caused the ground to crack.

"Damn! Where'd that strength come from, kiddo?"

Sora ignored him and attempted to hit Odd in the head with a sweeping kick. Odd easily caught this attack as well. With his fee hand Sora swung his fist hard at his enemy's face. Before it could connect Odd dropped the keyblade and the leg and jumped backward. Odd's grin widened.

"Whoo-whee! Now that's some aggression! Where'd this come from, and why didn't you do it before?"

"Shut up," Sora spat, neither angry nor flustered but simply determined. "I'm going to kill you. You're way to powerful and way too dangerous to be allowed to do as you please. That last attack of yours was more along the line of Limit than some sort of super attack. I'm supposed to be other only person who can initiate one of those."

"Aww, has someone's ego been hurt?" Odd let loose a demonic chuckle before continuing. "As much as I'd love to continue this little bout, I'm out of time. So long and, farewell my good friend."

"You're not going-!"

"Stop!"

Sora and everyone else turned to see none other than the Emperor. He casually walked forward, carefully observing the battlefield around him. Shang and Mulan stepped forward.

"Your majesty, you shouldn't be out here!" Shang stated. "It is far too dangerous!"

"I wouldn't be so sure. I snuck a glance at the many battles fought here. It is of my opinion that no more fighting will be necessary."

"But your majesty, there is still a dangerous force here opposing us!" Mulan argued.

The Emperor shook his head. "Dangerous, undoubtedly. But I do not believe that we ourselves are in any danger."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

Mulan and Shang drew their swords at Odd, now only a few paces away from them. Riku and Kair approached from behind as Sora sprinted towards them, cursing himself for allowing the distraction to let Odd get away. The Emperor raised his hand, signaling for them to lower their weapons. Shang and Mulan hesitated for a moment but obeyed. The three keyblade wielders did not, but made no motions to attack.

"So you're him, huh?" Odd continued. "You're the head honcho 'round these parts?" Odd carefully scanned the Emperor. "Not bad. So, what does the geezer wanna talk to me about?"

"YOU WILL ADDRESS HIM WITH RESPECT!" burst out Shang, barely able to keep himself from cutting his head off.

"Easy, pretty boy. I meant it as a term of respect. Old geezers like whitebeard here are the only kind of people who consistently have something work listening to." Odd turned his attention back to the Emperor. "So, what does the big man have to say?"

"Am I not keeping you from something?" the Emperor asked. "As I understood it, your presence is requested elsewhere."

"Believe me, showing up late wouldn't be a first time thing. They can wait for a few minutes."

The Emperor made a short nod in response. "So, you have managed to tame that creature?" he asked, his gaze focused on the Shadow at his shoulder.

"Little Twitch here is one in a million. Isn't that right, little guy?" Odd scratched the back of his pet's head who leaned back into his fingers and moaned contently.

"May I have your name?"

Odd posed dramatically. "I am the most eccentric of eccentrics. The most enchanting man in all the worlds. A man who – Nah, I'm just kiddin', my name's Odd," he finished casting off his dramatic speaking tone for a more normal one.

"Odd then, I would like to thank you for your assistance here this day. Please, accept my gratitude."

Odd's face brightened. "Ooh! Does that mean I get a reward, too?" Before anyone could stop him, he began to ramble. "I want a Ferrari, a rubber ducky, a bottle of vodka, a summer beach house full of Swedish fashion models, and a baby brother!"

Everyone just stared. Even the Emperor, despite his usual composure, also wore an expression of pure bafflement. After a few moments Odd burst out with an uproarious, but still nonthreatening laugh.

"Naw, I'm just kiddin' wit'cha! Seriously though, if you're gonna grant me a prize, I'm afraid I'll have to decline."

Shang, Mulan, and especially Sora, RIku, and Kairi were particularly surprised at that.

"Oh? You would not request any sort consolidation for your efforts?"

"Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good prize as much as the next guy, and I undoubtedly did all the heavy lifting here today. But I didn't do it because I was trying to save you or your kingdom. I did it for fun, and I don't see why I should be rewarded for that."

The Emperor simply grunted in response. Odd turned to face the three keyblade wielders.

"Well kiddies, it's been a blast, but when you gotta go you gotta go."

"Hold it!" shouted Sora, thrusting his weapon into his face. "Just what re you trying to pull here!?"

Odd chuckled. "Like I told you before, 'I may not be the hero, but I ain't the bad guy.' You're gonna learn, really soon, that the little black and white world you live in is filled with lot's and lot's of grey."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just foreshadowing future chapters in the story."

"Wh-What?"

"Nothing. Anyway, see ya!"

And with that Odd and Twitch disappeared into a dark corridor. Sora fumbled through his pockets but was too late.

"Damnit!" he shouted, holding the now useless pendant in his hand. He turned to Riku and Kairi. "Sorry guys. I missed the chance."

Riku rested his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry. He'll definitely be back. We'll get another chance."

"Sora?" Mulan asked. "Is there anything we could do to help?"

Sora shook his head. "No. It's ok. It's something we need to handle ourselves."

"Are you sure?"

Sora smiled. "Just keep your world safe. That's enough."

Mulan smiled back and bowed, and Sora did the same. "And thank you to you as well," she said addressing Riku and Kairi. The two also made a short bow. Mulan's smile was replaced by a look of curiosity as her gaze shifted to the sky behind the three. "What's that?"

The three turned and immediately recognized it as a Gummi Ship, and not just any Gummi Ship. The three happily raced forward as the vessel landed. The door opened with a hiss and out stepped two familiar figures. Both happily ran forward and tackled Sora.

"Donald! Goofy!"

"Sora! Good to see you!" quacked the magician.

"How've ya been?" the royal knight asked.

Sora's face fell somewhat as he brought himself to his feet. "Could be better, but not all that bad."

The two Disney Castle residents' gaze shifted to Riku and Kairi.

"Hey there, you two!"

"Hey yourself, Goofy," Riku replied. "That's some entrance you two made."

"Well, I see we have some more familiar faces."

The five friends turned to see the Emperor as well as Shang and Mulan right behind them. Donald and Goofy stood up and made a short bow.

"Good to see you, your highness," Donald said in the most professional tone his voice would allow.

"It is a pleasure to see you as well."

"Good to see you too Mulan, Captain Shang," Goofy chimed in.

"General now, " he corrected.

"_General _Shang," Goofy said again.

"So, what are you two here for?" Kairi asked.

"Well, actually we came here for the three of you," Goofy stated.

"Is something wrong?" Riku asked. "We haven't heard from King Mickey since he sent that letter asking us to be prepared for the Heartless. What did we miss?"

"Well, some guy in a cloaked just showed up at the castle a few hours ago?"

"'A cloak?'" Sora asked, afraid that it might be Odd once again. "What did he look like?"

"Dunno," answered Goofy. "He had the hood up. It looked kinda like the ones those Oraganization XIII fellers were wearing, but still kinda different."

"Different how?" asked Kairi.

"It's got all these fancy designed patterns all over it, too."

The three friends turned to each other. It didn't sound like Odd. His cloak was identical to the Nobody's attire.

"What did he do?" asked Sora.

"Well, not much," replied Donald. "But, he's actually still there."

"Huh?" all three replied in unison.

"He said he's got some message to read to some specific list of people, and you're on the list."

"What did the message say?" asked Riku.

"No idea. He says he won't read it until everyone who's supposed to hear it is there to listen to it!"

"So that's why you came to get us," Sora stated. The two nodded. "Actually, how did you find us here?"

"Well, first we went to the islands, but you weren't there," Goofy stated. "We took a guess and went to Radiant Garden where Leon told us you went here."

"I see you are needed," the Emperor butt in. "You should leave immediately."

"But what about, you know?" Sora asked, gesturing to the ruined courtyard.

"We can fix that on our own, " Mulan replied. "You guys have already helped with the hard part."

Sora nodded and turned to his friends. "We should probably return Cid's ship before we head to Disney Castle."

"If you're going to stop by there first please give that girl our thanks," Shang said.

"You mean Yuffie?" Kairi asked. Shang nodded. "We will."

"Donald, can you take us to the summit first?"

"Sure thing, Sora!"

The three turned and said their goodbyes before entering into the cockpit of the Gummi Ship.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**DAMN! 17 pages! Longest. Chapter. Ever. Unlike the last chapter this one was actually fun to write. I really hope the battle scenes here were adequate because I put a lot of work and thought into how they turned out. The Anti vs Odd fight was meant to be really intense while the fights with the Dragons and the mysterious creatures were meant to show how ridiculously powerful Odd is (and by comparison how strong Sora's Anti form is).**

**Anyway there was a lot going on in this chapter so I'd like to answer some potential questions you'd have. 1****st**** are the 4****th**** wall jokes that Odd made including the **_**Street Fighter **_**moves as well as "foreshadowing the later chapters." Well I always intended Odd to be extremely insane but while I was writing this chapter I found another character to base aspects of him off of to make him seem even **_**more **_**insane. That character is Marvel comic's post popular obscure anti-hero, Deadpool a.k.a. "The Merc with a Mouth." I'll admit I only discovered this character a few weeks before **_**X-Men Origins **_**debuted in theatres, but he has left an impact on me. 2****nd**** is what are the new creatures? Well, you'll have to wait for that. 3****rd****, why the Land of Dragons? Personally I love **_**Mulan **_**and I feel that the world doesn't get enough attention in fanart and fanfiction. The three big ones are always the Pride Lands, Halloween/Christmas Town and Port Royal, not that I don't like those worlds too. **

**Anyway, with luck I can have the next chapter up within a few days. I've really been looking forward to writing this next chapter, so hopefully that will speed things along. Please review, or else I might have to start being an ass and do some thing where "I won't update unless I get 5 reviews!" Ok I probably won't do that, but as much as I love the feedback from my good friend StevtheZombiehunter and amazing inspiration TimFortune I'd like feedback from other people as well. Anyway, its late so time to hit the sack. Luv ya all!**


	8. Diplomacy

**When You're Strange**

Chapter 7

_Diplomacy_

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Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kairi, and Riku stepped out of the Gummi Ship in the docking area. It had been about two hours since they had left the Land of Dragons and about forty-five minutes since they had dropped off Cid's ship back in Radiant Garden. An excited and anxious Chip and Dale greeted them all.

"Guys! Guys!" Dale shouted, hopping up and down excitedly.

"What's wrong?" Donald asked, worried. "Did something happen?"

"Not yet, but things are staring to get tense!" answered Chip. "The guy in the cloak looks like he's losing his patience! No telling what'll happen if he loses it!"

"Gwarsh, we didn't take _that _long, did we?" Goofy asked aloud.

"Where is he?" Sora asked, psyching himself up for the possibility of a fight.

"Same place he's been the whole time; in the royal chamber!" Chip answered.

"Let's go!" Riku shouted, already running off in the direction of the exit. The six others followed, Chip and Dale doing all they could to keep up with their much taller counterparts. It took them only a few minutes to exit the garage, dash through the garden, and sprint down the hallway to the giant imposing doors of the royal chamber. Donald quickly opened the small hidden door and everyone entered. King Mickey was pacing back an forth in front of his seat while Queen Minnie stood not far from him, remaining still except for glancing at their unexpected guest. About twenty paces away from the two was the person in question, standing at a massive height. He would've likely dwarfed even the tall and gangly Odd by at least a foot. Unlike Odd who had a lanky figure, this person was more muscular, but not overly so. His broad shoulders gave him a dominating appearance. Goofy's description of his attire was indeed correct; the shape and color of the outfit was identical, with a few additions. A white trim ran from the bottom of his cloak about halfway up, thinning out as it went higher. An identical pattern ran from his sleeves to his shoulders. The entering group quickly dashed towards them, and all three turned their attention to the oncoming group.

"Donald! Goofy! You found them!" the king stated with joy.

The cloaked figure let out an exasperated sigh. "_Finally_. What was keeping you two?" The person's voice was strong and professional but held an undercurrent of frustration and annoyance. "With that ship it should have only taken you a mere fifty minutes to travel to the Destiny Islands and back. You have been absent for two and a half hours!"

"We weren't at the islands. We were in the Land of Dragons when they found us," Sora explained, not about to let his friends be scolded by some guy they didn't even know. The cloaked figure grunted, and Sora was sure he was glaring at him underneath that hood.

"Well, pardon me for expecting you to be _on time_."

Sora grit his teeth, this guy was really starting to get on his nerves.

"Ok, ok, calm down, " Kairi butt in. "We're not here to fight, right?"

Sora calmed down but still glared at the hooded man. The cloaked figure also assumed a more relaxed pose.

"Indeed. Despite the immensely slow pace of it, we are making progress."

"Exactly. So if you could give us that letter now-"

"Unfortunately, young lady, I'm afraid you do not quite understand. First of all I am not here to _deliver _this missive, I am here to _read _it. Secondly, as I am quite sure you have been informed of, I have been given strict orders no to read the message until _all _its intended recipients are present. At the current moment, there is still one missing. A certain court duchess to be exact."

"No way!" Donald quacked angrily. "There's no way I'm letting you anywhere near Daisy!"

"Then it seems our celebration of progress is premature. I will not budge from my orders."

"Can you at least give us an idea of what the message says?" the King asked politely.

"Unfortunately, your majesty, I cannot. Not only have I not gazed upon these inscriptions but I have also been instructed to reveal nothing I do know for certain."

"You're pretty shady for someone who's just trying to give us a message," Riku stated.

"Your suspicions are unfounded. I have nothing to hide."

"If that's the case, how come we don't know your name or face?" Sora asked.

There was a short pause before the man responded, where Sora was sure the man was glaring long and hard at him. After the awkward silence, the man quickly pulled back his hood. The man had a square face and was clean-shaven. His skin was well cared for and his skin color was fair, not dark but not completely pale either. His hair was a stunningly bright golden blonde and was pulled back into a small ponytail that barely met the bottom of his neck. At the peak of his forehead a few tiny strands of hair curled forward, likely they were too short to be tied back. Like Odd his irises were amber with a slight glow, erasing any doubt that this man was in someway associated with the darkness. His eyes were sharp and piercing, a stark contrast to Odd's which were wide and wild. The expression on his face matched his speaking tone, as if to say "I'm a busy man, let's get this finished."

"My name is Pietro, and I do hope that is a satisfactory answer for you will hear nothing more until I read the missive."

"Well if you're waiting for me there's no reason to wait any longer," said a female voice.

Everyone turned to see that Daisy had entered to the room. Donald sprinted over to her, panic on his face.

"Daisy! What are you doing here!? I told you it wasn't safe! We have no-!"

"Donald!" With that one worded response the court magician immediately shut his mouth. Daisy relaxed before continuing. "Thanks for looking out for me, but if he was going to do something he would've done it by now. Besides, it's rude to keep a guest waiting."

"B-But-!" Donald began to protest, but Daisy leaned in close to whisper.

"Don't worry. The sooner he finishes the sooner he leaves, right?"

Donald turned to glare at Pietro, who was completely unfazed.

"Well… I guess…"

The two walked over and joined the group.

"Am I to assume that there will be no more problems?" Pietro asked. Everyone nodded. The messenger's expression changed to a slightly more welcoming expression. "The we can begin," he said in a tone devoid of frustration. He raised his hand and a mass of darkness appeared above it. Just as quickly as it came it disappeared, replaced by a scroll. Pietro unwrapped the roll of paper, clearing his throat before starting.

"_A message to King Mickey, Queen Minnie, Daisy Duck, Donald Duck and Goofy of Disney Castle and to Keyblade wielders Sora and RIku as well as Princess of Heart Kairi,_

_As you should all know intimately the powers of Light and Darkness and those who wield them have been at war since their conception into existence. The battles waged between these two forces have been as miniscule as one person overcoming their own demons to wars that have engulfed several worlds and have attracted the attention of hundreds of others. Throughout these times those who have wielded these powers have inadvertently helped to shape how these forces have been perceived. Those who have wielded the Light have traditionally have been defenders and heroes and have shaped it into a force for good. Those who have wielded the Darkness have almost always been conquerors and bringers of despair causing the darkness to be perceived as a destructive force for evil. The polarizing nature of the actions of these beings over the eons have cemented in the minds of the people that those who use the Light can only be bring prosperity while those who embrace the Darkness can only cause destruction._

_However, there are those of us who have found a middle ground between the two, and there exist entire worlds inhabited by such people."_

"Say what?" Sora blurted out, completely stunned at this revelation. "Did you say 'entire _worlds'_?" Everyone else wore the same expression as him.

Pietro sent him a harsh look. "If I could be allowed to finish, I'm sure you're questions will be answered."

Sora quickly shut his mouth and nodded. Pietro took a deep breath before continuing.

"_These people, myself included, have chosen to avoid contact with the worlds of the Realm of Light as the residents of such places would chastise us before we could even begin to come to an understanding. As such we have remained hidden from both the forces of Darkness and Light. However, recent events have given us cause to rethink our position. There are many reasons I could list here but the two main ones lie in the recently defeated Organization XIII and the tale of the warrior Riku. As you should know Organization XIII posed a threat to all worlds and people, both those of Light and Darkness, and was composed of beings not of Darkness but Nothingness. For the first time in recorded history the forces of Darkness and Light had a common enemy. More importantly was Riku, the first person known to use the power of Darkness specifically for the purpose of aiding the forces of Light._

_With the traditional conceptions of the nature of Light and Darkness shattered we feel that now would be the best time to come to a historic agreement: Positive diplomatic relationships between denizens of the Realms of Light and Darkness. It is with this letter that I invite all to whom this letter is addressed to the crowning achievement of our people, a world to which it's residents have name 'Nightlife.' We plan a tour of our world as well as entertainment and events held in honor of your arrival. We do hope you will accept this invitation and I look forward to your arrival._

_Sincerely,_

_Ruler of Nightlife Arachnus"_

Everyone just stared in disbelief, not sure how to react or what to say.

"Uh… whoa." Said Kairi, breaking the silence.

Pietro smirked. "Yes, 'whoa' indeed." As he began to roll the scroll closed something on the parchment caught his eye. "Oh! I'm sorry; I seem to have missed something. '_P.S. I apologize in advance if my assistant causes you trouble. Pietro can be a bit of a stickler for punctuality…' _Wait, what?"

The guys did their best to suppress their laughter while the girls giggled. Pietro's face flushed red. "Y-Yes, well, um…" he stuttered as he quickly rolled up the scroll and dispersed it into nothingness. He did the best he could to regain his composure. "Well, um, I'm afraid time is short and I will need your answer immediately."

"Our answer?" asked Goofy.

"Yes. Will you accept the invitation?"

Everyone turned to the King.

"Well gee, I dunno. This is a pretty big decision to make, even for me."

"Why doesn't Sora decide?" suggested the Queen. "After all, he is the Hero of Light."

"An excellent point, your majesty," commented Pietro. "Surely if Sora, the one destined to defeat the Darkness, agreed to this than things would progress much more smoothly. Well Sora?"

Sora unexpectedly found himself on the spot, completely unready to make such a decision. "Uh… Well…" he stammered. Thinking quickly he grabbed Riku and Kairi. "Give us a minute," he said as he pulled his friends into a huddle. "What do you guys think?"

"I really don't have a clue," Riku answered. "I never expected _anything _like this."

"Riku! You were _in _the Realm of Darkness for a whole _year_!"

"Yeah, well I never met anyone like this!"

Sora groaned. "What about you, Kairi? Any thoughts?"

Kairi closed her eyes and thought long and hard. "Maybe… We need to look at this a little differently."

"What do you mean?" Riku asked.

"Well, why would we say no?" she asked gazing at Riku.

"'Cause it could be a trap to get is into the realm of Darkness so they'd have better chance of killing us."

"And why would we say yes?" she asked Sora.

"'Cause if we had allies in the Realm of Darkness _and _the Realm of Light it'd be harder for people like Maleficent to find a safe spot where they could scheme. We could stop a lot of battles before they even started," he answered.

"Well I don't know about you two, but that sounds like it's worth the risk to me," stated.

Sora and Riku both looked to each other and nodded. The three broke the huddle and turned to face the messenger.

"Ok, we accept," said Sora.

Pietro smiled. "Excellent! I'll be delighted to deliver such news! Uh, one more issue though. You need to decide on your preferred method of transportation."

"'Transportation?'" asked Goofy. "Aren't ya gonna just tell us where you're world is so we can fly there in there in the Gummi Ship?"

"I'm afraid not. You see, despite extending a proverbial olive branch we are still taking precautions to ensure that we will still be safe from any force that would be willing to destroy us. Only after you leave will make our exact location publicly known."

"So, what are our choices?" asked Daisy.

"Well, your first option would be for us to send one of our own Gummi ships to pick you up. It will take around a day to arrive and an additional day to bring you all to your destination."

"A whole day? That's really long! Are you guys really that far away?" Donald asked, somewhat shocked.

"I'm afraid so."

"And what would be our other choice?" asked the Queen.

"Well… The Corridors of Darkness." Everyone except Riku and the King shuddered, but even they didn't look pleased. "Travel would be instantaneous, but perhaps not to your liking."

"Uh… We'd like the Gummi ship option, please," Sora answered. Everyone else nodded.

"Of course. And just one more thing, my master has requested that you show up in your best formal wear, if you please. And you may want to prepare yourselves for a three day stay."

The Disney Castle residents nodded.

"Uh, we don't really have anything like that," said Sora.

Pietro simply smirked. "You need not worry. The master has prepared some garments for you three upon your arrival. I'm sure you will find them to your liking."

Sora wasn't too sure about that, but nodded all the same.

"Well then, despite a few setbacks, I'd say this went rather well. Your ship should be arriving around this time tomorrow. I hope there will be no impediments. Good bye, and good day."

Pietro bowed before disappearing through one of the corridors of darkness, leaving the rest to ponder what the world and the people there would all be like.

"I guess we should find you three some rooms for the night," the King stated. "Donald, Goofy, do ya mind?"

"Not all, your majesty," they both replied, bowing to the King. The three Destiny Island residents quickly did the same.

"Come on you guys," said Donald. "Follow me."

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The group of eight stood in the Gummi Garage, awaiting the transport. The King, Queen and Daisy were dressed basically the same as yesterday. Donald and Goofy were also dressed there best, and Sora couldn't help but feel like he and his friends were a bit out of place.

"He's late," the King stated, looking at his watch. "He didn't seem like the kind of person to let the ship to be late."

"Maybe someone else held him up," Donald suggested.

"Guys! Guys!"

The group turned to see Chip and Dale frantically running towards them.

"What is it this time?" asked Goofy.

"Outside! In the garden!" screamed Chip.

"It's huge!" chimed in Dale.

Everyone glanced at each other and quickly dashed outside. For a moment, they wondered why it was so dark. Then they looked up and their mouths dropped open. Blocking out the sun was a massive black vehicle, resembling more of a spear than a ship.

"Gummi ship nothing," said Riku. "That's a battleship!"

"Or maybe a flying fortress!" added Kairi.

"Ahem."

Everyone turned around to see Pietro standing behind them, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Um, I see I forgot to mention the _size _of our ship. I do hope we haven't caused too much of a disturbance."

"Uh… No! It's fine!" Mickey insisted.

Pietro sighed in relief. He placed a finger to his and said, "We're ready." The group was enveloped by Darkness and a split second later they were all in a silver colored hall.

"What happened?" asked Kairi.

"That's just our transport system," Pietro explained. "We use it in places where the Dreadnaught is too big to land."

"'Dreadnaught?' That's this things name?" Sora asked. Pietro nodded. "Definitely suites it," he muttered.

"Ah yes, well. The men's room will be down the hall to my right and the women's will be down the hall to the left. Feel free to walk around as you like, but please refrain from going to the cockpit or any other restricted areas. If you require any food there is a transmitter in each of your rooms that you can use to order something and it will be brought to you as soon as possible."

"Question," Riku shouted. "Is there a reason we can't see outside? Are there no windows, or are we in the innermost part of the ship or something?"

"Well we are in the center of the ship. However, even tough there are windows they have all been covered. As I explained before we don't want to reveal anything that might give away our world's location until we're sure that positive relations have been established. I apologize."

Riku sent a suspicious look his way but nodded all the same.

"Well if you could all head down to your rooms, we will arrive as soon as possible. Please be patient."

With that Pietro disappeared through another corridor. A few seconds later the group could feel the ship rumble, signifying that it was taking off. The group gave each other a few glances before heading off to their rooms. Sora found his first and opened it. He was surprised to find it particularly well decorated and welcoming. After getting accustomed to his new surrounding he pressed a button on the communicator next to him and female voice responded. He asked for a can of soda an instantly it appeared next to him in a puff of dark smoke. After recovering from the initial shock he thanked the woman and chugged the soda. He lied back onto the remarkably soft bed and before he knew it he drifted off to sleep…

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"Get up, you lazy bum!"

"OW!"

Sora awoke with a start, rubbing his forehead.

"What now, Kairi?"

"We're here!"

"Wha- Really?"

Kairi nodded, an excited smile stretched across her face. "Come on! You've got to see this place!"

She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him trough the hallways. Within minutes they had caught up to Riku and the rest of the group who were all gazing out of the now uncovered windows. Sora took one glanced and was stunned. The whole world was a bustling city at night, lights of all kinds shining through the spaces in between the buildings, all fighting for attention. More than that no two spots look the same. In one spot was what looked like a sports stadium and right next to was a tower that resembled a giant mobile. As he looked carefully at each of the rotating orbs he could see windows and people inside. In one they were all gambling, in other they were all eating, in the next they were dancing. Sora almost felt overwhelmed as he gazed at all the different structures. Some were conventional with the presence of lights and signs, other were covered with giant television screens. Some were shaped and positioned in such odd ways that you would think they would fall over and other actually _floated_. He could right away that this world _never _turned off.

"Attention all passengers," said a female voice over the intercom. "We are now approaching Silk Tower. Please prepare of slight turbulence. Thank you."

Sora's gaze shifted to a massive black tower in the distance. It stood out among all the others not for a particular feature but rather for its lack of features. Aside from the fact that it dwarfed every other building as far as the and that it looked more like a spearhead jutting out of the ground there was nothing special about it. There were no massive signs, strobing lights, or intricate features. It stood almost as a pillar of tranquility.

The ship began shaking slightly as it descended towards the center of the skyscraper. After a few minutes there was a slight thud that cause a small tremor to reverberate through the ship. Sora realized that the ship had landed, despite the fact that they were level with the halfway point on the tower, putting into perspective how big the ship was.

"I hope you enjoyed the view," said Pietro appearing out of another portal just behind the group. "Follow me please. The master awaits your presence with great anticipation."

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**I will be honest, I LOVED writing this chapter. It's 4 AM right now and the only thing keeping me up is the caffeine in my tea. Not much to say now but I hope you enjoy this new character and new world as well as this turn of events that I hope you didn't see coming. I hope the latter half of this wasn't moving too fast for you, but give me a break, I'm tired as hell! Anyway, I hope to get up the next chapter soon and for those of you looking for more fights, I'll tell you right now, it'll be while.**

**Shinigamisparda, out!**


	9. A Conversation Starts

**When You're Strange**

Chapter 8

_A Conversation Starts When the Chapter Ends_

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The guest followed Pietro through the chrome colored halls of the Dreadnaught before finally coming to a hatch styled door.

"Dreadnaught requesting access to Silk Tower," Pietro said, pressing a finger to his ear. "This is Pietro with guests."

A barely audible "Request granted" could be heard to those who listened hard enough. A hole opened up in the tower, as if it was actually alive. Darkness extended from the building, forming a tunnel until it reached the hatch door. Once it had, Pietro finally opened the hatch.

"If you could all follow me please," requested Pietro. Everyone hesitated for moment until they saw that the dark mass tunnel was indeed solid. As soon as the last of them had reached the solid ground of building floor the tunnel receded, merging back with the building and once again becoming a solid wall.

The hallway they were now in was completely black. The ceiling and walls were made out of some sort of stone while the floor was made of black wood. Its shiny veneer was shown by the only thing that adorned the walls, humble candles providing an eerie sort of light and atmosphere to the hall. Pietro motioned for them to follow and they obeyed, staying closely behind. They had only walked for a few minutes when a dark portal unexpectedly opened in from of them. It dissipated instantly and in its place was a young woman. She was roughly Riku's height and was thin and slender. Her skin was flawless and both it and her hair were a ghostly white. Her eyes were thin and sharp, and seemed to hold little if any emotion in them. Like everyone new to the group, her irises glowed amber. Her head was slightly round, this feature being emphasized by her short hair that seemed to closely follow the curves of her skull. Judging by her appearance, she couldn't have been older than her early 20's.

Perhaps most eye-catching though was her outfit: a particularly fancy version of a classic maid's outfit. A white button up collar extended to her small breasts before extending outward just short of her shoulders. The rest of her torso was covered by a black long-sleeved shirt, which ended with white cuffs. Around her waist was a white apron that ran nearly all the way down a black skirt, which stopped just beyond her knees. Black stockings ran up past the bottom of the skirt and she wore black high heels. At the edges of any white part of the outfit was a poofy lace. This lace was also seen around her shoulders and her white headband.

Pietro seemed surprised to see this girl, unlike his guests who were simply caught off guard by _anyone _suddenly appearing in front of them.

"Greetings, Pietro," said the maid in a voice devoid of all emotion.

"And hello to you as well, Weiss. What brings you here?"

"I am here to escort the guests."

Pietro looked surprised. "But why? I was told that I would be-"

"The master has requested that you attend to the preparations for this evening immediately. I will take over from here."

"Ah yes. I was wondering when I was going to get the chance. Very well, I leave them to you." They both made a slight bow to each other before Pietro disappeared through a dark corridor. The woman turned her calm, blank gaze to the guests.

"Greetings to you all. I am Weiss, head maid of Silk Tower. I report and receive orders directly from Master Arachnus. I will be escorting you the rest of the way. If you could follow me please."

Without waiting for response she turned on her heel and walked down the hall, not waiting for the group to catch up. After several moments of silent walking, Goofy broke the ice.

"Um, Ms. Weiss?"

"Just Weiss, please," she said without turning her head. "What is your concern?"

"Well, uh, I was just wonderin' why this here place is called 'Silk Tower.'"

"I'm afraid I cannot give you an answer, honorable guest Goofy."

"Uh, just Goofy is fine," he responded, slightly embarrassed.

"Why can't you tell us about the name?" Donald asked, slightly suspicious.

"I have been requested not to, honorable guest Donald."

"How come?"

"I…"

Weiss paused, both in speech and movement. As she stood there silently she seemed to be thinking intently, as though Donald's question was one she could never see coming.

"I… I did not ask," she finished weakly. "I apologize. Perhaps the master wishes to keep such information as a surprise."

The rest of the group exchanged glances with each other, some worried, some suspicious, some just plain curious. Without a word Weiss continued forward and everyone else did as well. After some more distance she made a sharp left and headed up a flight of stairs, stopping before a wooden door. Once everyone else had caught up she opened it.

The change in lighting was so abrupt that everyone had to shield his or her eyes for a moment. Once that passed, everyone was flabbergasted at the stark difference between the room and the hallway. The room was enormous, as if a small garage could've fit inside of it, roof and all. The walls practically looked as though they were made out of gold, and shone just as brilliantly due to the candle chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Near the edges of the floor, ceiling, and around the doors there was a pure as white wooden trim with an intricate golden floral design flowing across it like a vine. The floor was beige colored polished wood that shone nearly as bright as the walls. There were several very comfortable looking seats, all wooden, with indigo colored cushions. In other words, the room looked very regal.

"This is the main guestroom and common area, better known as the Golden Room," explained Weiss after they all had worked they way inside. "It is in the exact center of Silk Tower, and nearly all passages lead to here."

"So are the walls made of gold?" Riku asked.

"Of course not," Weiss answered. "The paint is."

Riku turned to Weiss after she answered. On her face he saw what could possible be a grin. It was far too subtle for him to tell.

_Maybe she was trying to make a joke? _

"So, is this where we're going to meet him?" Sora asked.

"No. You will be meeting Master Arachnus in his private quarters, as he requested. We are just making a brief stop in order prepare."

"'Prepare?'" Kairi echoed. "Prepare how?"

"I believe Pietro mentioned something about new garments to you."

The three islanders nodded. Weiss nodded in response and clapped her hands twice. Two dark corridors appeared near the center of the room. As they disappeared two female figures took their places. Both were dressed identically to Weiss with minor alterations to suit their sizes and figures.

One was about half a foot taller than Riku and bore shapely features. Her skin tone was fair and bore no imperfections of any kind. Her face was triangular and her chin was pointed, though not nearly to the extent that Odd's was. Her hair was a lime green color and came down in bangs, stopping just above her pencil thin eyebrows. Behind her head it ran down to her lower back, flowing beautifully, and her headband kept it away from her ears. Her eyes were sharp, but not piercing, and she wore a soft smile on her face. Her appearance made her look to be in her late 20's.

The other girl, by contrast, was particularly small, barely reaching Donald's height. All her features were petite, and her chest looked almost flat. Her skin was a bit whiter than the other's, but was by no means pale. Her head was rounded and her sky blue hair seemed to spiral clockwise from the center of it. Her bangs ended at the top her wide, charming and almost innocent eyes, and stopped at the base of her neck behind her head. Her smile was cheerful yet properly reserved at the same time. By her tiny frame, one would have guessed she was barely in the double digits, early teens at the latest. It seemed almost pointless to mention that both of their eyes were glowing amber, as it seemed that could be said for everyone as of late.

The two newcomers looked to their right, as if expecting something that should be there. After a brief pause Weiss clapped her hands once again. There was still no response. The tall woman sighed while the smaller one politely giggled.

"HONG!" Weiss called, somehow yelling in a tone that still seemed devoid of emotion.

Finally, in the exact position the three maids had been expecting, a dark corridor opened and out stumbled another maid. Her eyes were closed as she let out an impressive yawn. Her hair was miffed, and her outfit ruffled. However, what was most eye catching was that her collar was completely unbuttoned, showing her pink bra underneath. The guests blushed, the tall maid rolled her eyes, the short maid did all she could to suppress laughter, and Weiss' disgust and frustration was clearly visible on her face.

The new arrival yawned again before speaking, still not opening her eyes. "Sorry. How long 'till they arrive?"

"They're already here," the tall maid answered with a smirk.

"How here is 'here'?" she asked, still not aware of her surroundings.

"Perhaps you'd like to check for yourself?" Weiss suggested.

The girl finally opened here eyes and, upon realizing the situation she was in, screamed while covering her chest. She quickly spun around, frantically buttoning up her collar.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THEY WERE HERE!?" she screamed.

"We did!" the small one managed to squeeze out between giggles.

"YOU DIDN'T SAY THEY WERE _HERE _HERE!"

After finishing with her collar she smoothed out her skirt, adjusted her sleeves, centered her headband, ran her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath to regain her composure before finally turning around.

Her height was equal to that of Kairi with a slender physique. Her face was slightly rounded and her skin was healthily tan. Her eyes were wide, showing off the most amount of emotion of any of the newcomers the group had met. Her smile was wide and cheery, though still showing noticeable signs of embarrassment. Her hair was strawberry red with bangs that came down to her eyelashes near her forehead and near her ears they actually began curl in towards her face, enough to follow the contour of her cheekbones. In the back it was cut short enough to see her neckline.

She nervously scratched the back of her neck. "Heh. Um… Sorry about that. Everyone needs a nap every once in a while, know what I mean?"

"No, but I'm sure Sora does," Riku said as he turned to his friend with a smirk.

"Oh, har har," Sora responded, giving Riku an annoyed look.

The newcomer giggled, then her eyes widened in realization.

"Oh! You're Sora?"

Sora nodded in response as she strolled over. She quickly scanned him up and down.

"Wow! You're pretty handsome!"

"Uh… Th-thanks…" Sora managed to stutter out. Donald and Goofy smirked while Riku snickered. Kairi, however, was not amused and the slightest hint of a glare began to form on her face.

"Well, time's a wastin'! Let's go!" the new arrival proclaimed while tugging on Sora's arm. Sora immediately broke free of her grasp.

"W-What are you doing?"

"What are _you _doing?" she asked in response, the slightest look of frustration on her face. "Weren't you listening to them before?"

"Whuh?"

"Ugh," she groaned rolling her eyes as she grabbed his arm again. "If you can't pay attention, then I'll explain when we get there." She began to pull him again, receiving the same response as last time. She turned back to look at him and was now noticeably upset.

"Uh, Hong-?" the small maid spoke, but was quickly cut off by the red haired girl.

"I know what I'm doing, Aoi!" she shot back. "And you!" she turned back to Sora grabbing him by the collar. "You're taking too long!" A dark corridor appeared just inches behind her. "In you go!" she shouted as she hurled the confused Keyblade master into the portal before jumping in herself.

"SORA!" Kairi shouted. Riku, King Mickey, Donald and Goofy all brandished their weapons, glaring at Weiss.

"What the hell's going on!?" Riku asked, practically screaming.

"Ahem."

Everyone turned to the tall maid, who had made the sound.

"Madam Weiss, if I may take the responsibility of explaining?" she asked in a very polite tone.

"Please do so."

The maid made a short bow to her superior before clearing her throat and turning to the guests.

"You needn't be alarmed. I assure you there is no need for weapons. I am Vert and next to me is Aoi. The one that made off with your friend is Hong."

"Nice to meet you. Now give a good explanation as to why I shouldn't run my weapon through your chest," Riku demanded.

"It's not what you think," Vert insisted, raising her hands in surrender. "No one is being kidnapped, there is no ambush, no double cross, just a case of miscommunication and misunderstanding."

"I'm waiting," said Riku, stepping forward until his keyblade was only a foot from her face.

"I believe Madam Weiss mentioned something about new garments before summoning us, correct?" Riku nodded. "We were called forth to assist you with that. The outfits prepared for you could be a bit of hassle to manage. Each of us, that is to say Hong, Aoi, and myself, were to guide the three Destiny Island residents to separate rooms where we would assist in preparing you for tonight before we would regroup once again to meet to with Master Arachnus."

"And your friend?" Riku asked. "What's the deal with her?"

"Well… Hong is-"

"Brash, impatient, and unpredictable." Riku turned to Aoi who looked to Riku with a smug look on her face. "If someone doesn't do what she wants, and doesn't do it quickly enough, she _makes _them do it. I'm guessing Hong thought we had already explained what Vert just said, so the way she saw it Sora was holding everything up. So, she took action." She chuckled lightly. "Hopefully, she has the sense to explain that to Sora."

Riku shifted his gaze back to Vert. "That's really the best you can come up with?"

"It's the truth," Vert assured him. "I swear it."

"And how do I know this isn't some hastily thrown together lie to get us off guard again?"

Vert's sharp eyes hardened as a smirk began to form on her lips. "Because I wouldn't need to resort to such tricks if I wanted to destroy you. Don't think for a moment I'm harmless."

Riku and Vert stared each other down for a few moments, neither changing their expressions. Finally, Riku dismissed his keyblade.

"You may not be harmless, but if you're lying to me it won't matter."

Vert eyes softened but her smile widened. The rest of the guests cautiously disarmed themselves and relaxed.

"If you are quite ready we can continue," Weiss stated. "Aoi has been assigned to Riku while Vert shall assist Kairi. The other guests shall make themselves comfortable here with me."

"Before you ask, yes, Hong was supposed to help Sora," Aoi stated.

Riku strolled on over to the small maid and folded his arms as Kairi cautiously approached Vert.

"Well?" Riku asked, waiting impatiently, "You gonna do your job or not?"

"Y-Yes, sir," Aoi stuttered, the slightest shade of red appearing on her face. She quickly turned towards the hallway and began to walk, with Riku close behind.

"Kairi, if you'll follow me please," Vert asked the Princess of Heart, turning towards the opposite hallway.

"Hold on. Why aren't we headed the same way?" Kairi asked, raising her eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, Princess, but we didn't think to put your wardrobe in the _men's _quarters," the maid answered with a smirk. Kairi blushed, slightly embarrassed before quickly continuing on, leaving the wary Disney Castle residents with the only remaining maid.

"Well then," everyone turned to Weiss as she spoke up, "Does anyone like tea?"

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"So… She didn't say _anything_?"

He shook his head.

"Nothing at _all_?"

Once again, he shook his head. She sighed.

"Oh man. I am _so _sorry. I… Oh jeez. I figured that since I was late that she had already told you everything." Hong sighed and hung her head. "The old lady's gonna chew me out for this one."

"It's fine. Really," Sora tried to assure her. "Um… Maybe if you just tell me what you're supposed to do and get to work this can all go over a lot smoother."

"Uh, yeah. That's probably a good idea." She took a deep breath and smiled. "Ok. So, um… My name's Hong. Me and my friends, Aoi, that's the little girl, and Vert, that's the other one, are supposed to help you get ready for tonight."

"So, what, you're gonna dress me up?"

She giggled. "When you say it like that you make it sound like I'm playing with dolls. I'm just gonna help you get into an outfit unlike anything you've ever tried before."

"How do you know I've never worn anything like it?"

"Well I don't know for sure, but something tells me you're not rich enough to own your own island. And I get the impression that you've never dressed up for royalty before."

"Well… you got me there."

She smirked. "Thought so. Well, take 'em off."

"Wh-What?"

"Your clothes. Off with 'em."

"Um… Can you… You know?"

"Come on, hun. This isn't the first time I've seen a guy in his underwear. Now hurry up so we can get on with this."

Sora's face began burning red. "Uh… I really don't feel comfortable with this…"

Hong sighed. "Great, we've got a shy one," she muttered. She pushed Sora onto the bed and began to undo his fly.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

"My job," she answered calmly, practically ripping off his pants. As Sora pulled down his shirt as far as he could Hong folded is pants ands stuffed them into a dresser. She turned back to him and placed her hands on her hips. "Now, can you take the rest off yourself or do I have to do that for you, too?"

Sora just stared dumbfounded for a moment, then meekly went to work on his shoes. Hong smiled and headed toward the closet. As Sora lifted his shirt over his head Hong approached with an outfit that, sure enough, was unlike _anything _Sora had ever worn before.

"Now then," she smiled, "let's give this hero a little class."

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Kairi kept her eye closely on Vert, not fully believing her story but still willing to give her a chance. She gazed around the room that would be her quarters for the next few days. It wasn't particularly extravagant, but it wasn't normal by any standard. The walls were painted a deep dark maroon color, giving the room a warm yet secretive feel. The floor was covered with a carpet of the same color, as were the bed sheets of a rather comfortable looking queen sized bed. There was a wooden desk that was polished to a mirror shine, as was everything else wooden including the chair, the bed frame, the closet, the dresser, and the door. The room was lit by a somewhat dim ceiling fan. Kairi pretended to be looking around the room but was keeping an eye on Vert by using the mirror hanging above the desk.

"So then," Vert began. "How do you want to look?"

"What do you mean?" Kairi asked, turning her full attention to the maid.

As she spoke she approached Kairi. "Listen, when it comes to formal evening wear there are three ways a woman can look. She can be cute as button, dark and alluring, or elegant and beautiful. So the question is…" Vert trailed off when she had gotten right next to Kairi. She leaned in close and whispered in the girl's ear, "How do you want Sora to see you tonight?"

Kairi took a few steps back in surprise. "H-How do you know about that?" she asked, flustered.

A playful smirk formed across Vert's face. "I didn't. Not until you got here. But I could tell, just by watching you two. Whenever either of you moved you got closer to each other, inch by inch. Something tells me you two didn't even realize it." Kairi looked down, trying to hide her blushing cheeks. "How far along are you two?"

"N-Not far," she admitted.

"Well then, maybe you'd like to use tonight as an opportunity to change that. But you still haven't answered my question," Kairi looked up to the maid once again. "Cute, elegant, or sexy?"

Kairi looked at herself in the mirror, perhaps harder than she had ever looked at herself before. She knew Sora loved her and nothing she wore would ever change that, but suddenly she began to look hard for anything she thought might be an imperfection on her body. She began to notice things, real and imaginary, which could make her appear even the slightest bit unattractive, being incredibly judgmental of her body and especially her face.

Then she suddenly cast off all these imaginary fears and concerns, realizing once and for all that none of them mattered. She looked fine the way she was, Sora had told her that he thought so numerous times, and she knew he wouldn't lie. With renewed confidence in herself she realized what she _really _wanted out of this. She was going to use this opportunity to make Sora see her in a way he never had. Keeping Vert's three descriptions in her mind she tried to discern which of the three she looked like right now. How did normal everyday Kairi look like?

_Cute, _she thought. _I look cute. So how about-?_

"Elegant," she finally answered. "I want to look elegant."

"Positive?" Kairi firmly nodded. Vert smiled and led the girl to the chair in front of the desk. Kairi sat down while Vert pulled out the drawers, which happened to be filled with makeup kits. "Then let's get started."

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Riku adjusted the sleeves on his new shirt as Aoi tied the tie around his neck. Because of the difference in height between them she had to stand on the chair so she could reach his neck. After she finished she hopped down and picked the blazer up from the bed and handed it to him. Riku took it, putting it on and then going to work on buttoning it up. Once he had finished she gave him the hat and as he put it on she folded the handkerchief and then gently placed it in his shirt pocket. She stepped back and gave him some room. He turned to the mirror making a few adjustments on the sleeves, tie and hat before he found himself pleased with how he looked.

"Not bad," he muttered to himself. "What do you think?" he asked, turning to the tiny maid.

She gazed upon him, almost in a daze. "You look amazing," she muttered. Her face flushed red upon realizing what she just said. "Uh, I mean you look handsome! NO! Uh, I mean, you, uh…" she cleared her throat before continuing, "You look very distinguished, sir."

Riku smirked. "Thanks."

He gazed in the mirror once again. The outfit was unlike anything he was expecting, but he was by no means displeased with it. He wore a black oxford shirt tucked into black slacks. The dress shoes were also black with white straps covering the laces. The black blazer covered a thin white tie and atop his head was a black fedora with a white trim. Topping it off was the white handkerchief sticking out of his shirt pocket.

"If I may be so bold to ask, sir," Aoi started.

"Yeah?"

"Does our guest trust us yet?"

Riku's smirk vanished from his face. "I… I trust you a little bit."

Aoi looked upset and hung her head. It almost looked like she was on the verge of tears. Suddenly Riku felt like he was being a colossal jerk. Sure he hadn't seen Sora yet and he had no idea what was happening to Kairi or anyone else, but as far as he knew nothing had happened that would make him think that Vert's story had been untrue.

"Tell you what," Riku said. "You make sure Sora and Kairi show up and we can forget that there was ever a problem."

Aoi's face brightened. "That won't be a problem, sir." Riku nodded and smiled in response. "If you're quite ready, then we can head back to the Golden Room."

Riku nodded and the maid opened the door for him. He waited for her to close the door and lead the way back to the common area. The walls of the corridor leading there was a calming shade of green lit by hung candles, enough to illuminate the hallway as good as any light bulb. As the two continued on one of the doors to the rooms opened. From within came two voices of different genders.

"Come on, let's get moving already!" said the female voice.

"Ok! Just don't rip my arm off!" complained the male voice.

_Wait. That's…_

Hong pulled Sora by the arm, who staggered along behind her. They headed toward the common room, not noticing they weren't alone in the hallway.

"Hong!" Aoi called.

Both spun around to see who had spoken.

"Aoi!" she replied with glee. "So you're done too, huh?"

"Yup."

Riku stared at Sora's outfit for a moment, then began to keel over with laughter.

"_That's _what you're wearing!?" he asked before continuing his fits of laughter.

"What?" Sora asked. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing. The only problem is that _you're _wearing it!"

Riku managed to stifle his laughter. The outfit itself was very nice, but it just didn't seem to suit Sora. The coat was black with a red trim along the standing collar and cuffs. It was held together at the center with four large gold buttons and a tight black belt around the waist with a golden buckle. The bottom of the coat covered the waistline of black trousers that bore a large red stripe down either side. The outfit was topped off with well-polished black shoes. The outfit looked very professional, starkly contrasted by Sora's wild spiky hair.

"You look like a bum in a suit!" Riku added.

"That's a bit harsh, sir," Aoi commented. "I'll admit it doesn't suit him, but it doesn't look _bad_."

"Yeah?" Hong asked, stepping in. "Personally I think it suits him fine. A real nice touch for the big hero."

Aoi gave her a hard look in response and smirked. "Well I think that you're just trying to add a nice icing onto an Ok cake. Riku's outfit, however, looks like it was made for him."

Hong's expression now mimicked her coworker's. "Please. Anyone can look good in a zoot suit."

"Are they… Are they arguing over which one of us looks better?" asked Sora.

"No. I think they're arguing over who dressed who better," Riku answered. He cleared his throat, drawing attention to himself. "Ladies, if you remember we a have a group of friends waiting for us."

"Oh! Um… yeah. Well, uh…" Hong answered, both her and Aoi wearing the same embarrassed expression.

"If you could follow us, sirs," Aoi requested politely. Both maids turned on their heels and walked down the hallway and the two boys followed.

"They remind me of someone," Riku whispered.

"Oh yeah?" Sora whispered back. "Who?"

"Us," he answered with a smirk. Sora smirked back.

The four quickly made their way to the Golden Room, the guests noticeably happy to see the four present and accounted for. The King, Daisy, and Weiss were all holding tea cups.

"Wow Sora! I hardly recognize you in that outfit!" Donald commented.

"That better be a compliment, Donald," Sora replied with a smirk. He quickly scanned the room. "Hey, where's Kairi?"

"You know us ladyfolk, tiger. Always takes us longer to get ready," Hong answered with a smirk.

"It's not entirely her fault, "Aoi replied. "Vert's a bit of a perfectionist. She can spend hours mussing over the tiniest thing. Don't worry, they'll both show up." Her gaze shifted to Riku before adding, "I promise."

Just then the distinct sound of footsteps came from the adjacent hallway. Everyone turned to see Vert approaching out of the shadows, wearing a particularly smug look on her face.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she began, stepping to the side. "Kairi."

The clicking of footsteps came from the shadows. Once she had entered the light nearly all eyes widened. Kairi's hair had been pulled back into a bun aside from the bangs in the front, which were carefully parted in the center so that they fell to either side. Her face bore the slightest touch of make up and there was the noticeable addition of blush on her cheeks. On her eyelids was mascara and eyeliner, and her lips bore red lipstick. Around her neck rested a necklace made of a peculiar thin black chain, and at the center rested a small pure black gemstone. Her dress was pitch black with golden jewels arranged on the skirt to give the image of a vine with flowers. From the waist up to just below her collarbone the dress was made of some sort of material that gripped her figure. There were no straps and no sleeves. Her skirt extended down to her ankles, barely showing her black high heels. On both arms were black silk gloves that ran all the way up to her upper arms. On the backhand of each glove was a golden outline of a rose. Kairi stepped forward and made short twirl before stopping.

"How do I look?" she asked.

No one said a word. Although she hadn't specified, everyone knew who the question was addressed to. All eyes turned to Sora, who just stared dumbfounded. He looked as though he was trying to respond, but the words just wouldn't come. After a few moments, Riku took action.

"'Scuse us," he said and pulled Sora by the collar. He pulled Sora in close enough to whisper and turned away from everyone. "Dude, I swear, if you don't make a move on Kairi _tonight _I'm gonna consider her fair game."

Sora looked to his friend with shock, followed half a second later by anger. "We're together, you know that."

"Yeah, well you haven't really shown it. And another thing, I may not be the 'date guru,' as you put it, but I know enough about girls to know that they'll give up on any guy, even the one they think they're in love with, if that guy doesn't make a move."

Sora's eyes widened in fear. Before he could respond Riku simply nodded. Sora gathered himself and nodded back. He turned and approached Kairi slowly, trying to think of what say. All eyes were trained on him, and it seemed everyone was holding their breath. By the time he had reached her he still hadn't come up with anything. Kairi patiently waited for his response. After a few more moments of thinking, Sora finally sighed.

"I… I honestly can't think of what to say…"

All eyes immediately turned to Kairi. Interestingly, rather than a disappointed reaction, Kairi seemed particularly pleased with Sora's reply. She leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"And the fact that you can't says more than you ever could," she replied with a grin.

The room began to breath again. Sora blushed and scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Heh. I mean, I sure didn't expect you to come out dressed like _this_," Sora added. "You look amazing. Really."

Kairi giggled. "Yeah, well I'm not the only one who showed up in an outfit that no one was expecting," she said giving his collar a tug. "After disappearing I didn't expect you back looking like a professional something-or-other."

"Oh!" Hong exclaimed. She rushed forward to Kairi and bowed apologetically. "I'm so sorry about that! It was totally my fault! I just assumed-!"

"It's ok," Kairi insisted. "Vert gave an explanation and, obviously, it turned out to be true."

Hong sighed. "So, no hard feelings?"

"Not with them, at least," Weiss butt in standing right behind the now terrified maid.

"I'm gonna get punished, aren't I?" Hong asked in a barely audible voice.

"Not exactly."

"What does that mean, Madam?" Hong asked, still too afraid to turn around.

"Master Arachnus requested that I choose one of you to perform a task later. I believe you have just volunteered."

"Yes Madam. Absolutely. Totally volunteering."

"I thought so." Weiss walked towards Riku, allowing Hong to sigh in relief. "I trust that the end result of this event is satisfactory."

"Yeah. Everything turned out Ok."

"I am pleased to hear that."

Weiss waved a hand signaling for the three maids to leave. All vanished instantly through individual dark corridors.

"Now then. If you are all quite ready, I shall take you to the master now."

The room suddenly felt of a much more serious tone. Weiss guided them to a particularly large wooden door at the opposite end of the Golden Room. After everyone had entered inside Weiss entered and closed the door behind her. The room was small and dimly lit by florescent lights overhead. Also the room had no other passages leading to it other than the one they had just gone through. Weiss placed her hand on a pad near the door, causing it to momentarily light up. As she removed her hand a whirring sound could be heard and the room began to move. It was at this point that everyone realized they were in an elevator. After a few short moments the elevator stopped. Weiss opened the door to a hallway identical to the one when they first arrived. She led them down the twists and turns of the passage until finally reaching a pitch-black wooden door with a golden frame and a doorknob made of a fist sized black gemstone, similar to the one Kairi wore around her neck. Also, the door was peculiarly concave, extending outward towards them in a semi-circular manner.

"One thing before we enter," Weiss said. "I must insist that after you all enter please stay as close to the door as possible. If the master would like to be closer he will ask you to approach or approach you himself. Also he may not face you immediately. Please be patient."

Before anyone could make a comment or question she opened the door and stepped inside. The rest of the group followed, obeying her instructions as best they could. Weiss closed the door and moved herself to the front of the group.

The room was perfectly circular and everything in the room was designed around that shape. Two red wooden bookshelves rested on either side of the room, built to follow the shape of the curved walls. Across from the door was a red wood desk, also made to follow the contour of the walls, with a single florescent lamp resting on it. In front the desk was the only thing that wasn't circular, a chair. However, calling it simply a chair wouldn't do it justice, as it was more like some elaborately maverick throne. It was made out of a pitch-black wood that extended at least eight feet tall. The design made it look like a black flame, spikes of wood twisting and turning as they rose. The lamp was the only thing lighting the room, and there were no windows.

"Master, the guests are here," Weiss stated. A snap of the fingers was heard and the lamp turned off. With another snap eight torches aligned around the room lit, giving the room a dark and secretive feel. Still, it was brighter than the single lamp.

"You may approach, Weiss," said a mature commanding voice coming from the chair. Rather than taking a dominating tone, the person seemed to be expressing a more lighthearted tone, as if he was particularly amused. The maid did as she was told and stood to the chairs left, turning to face whoever was seated.

"I assume things went well?" he asked.

"There was a small disturbance, but it was easily corrected."

"'A disturbance?' Let me guess. Hong?"

"Yes sir."

The man let out a chuckle. "That girl. I assume you gave her a proper punishment."

Weiss nodded.

"Nothing too harsh, I hope?"

"Not at all. I simply assigned her to the task you asked to have performed."

"Ah, yes. That should work out just fine. She may be a bit of a hassle, but she always does an excellent job in the end. And you? I trust you made our guests comfortable."

"I…" Weiss stopped. She turned to the group by the door and stared for a moment before turning back to the chair and hanging her head. "I do not believe I did an acceptable job. I tried my best, but was unable to engage in 'small talk.'" Weiss bowed apologetically. "Please, forgive me Master."

A hand reached over and gently lifted her chin. "That's all right, my dear. There's no need to feel ashamed. I know you're not a particularly social person. I would never chastise you for that."

"B-But you asked me… You said you expected me to improve my social skills."

"In _time_, my dear. I asked you to improve but a week ago. I didn't expect a change so soon."

Weiss made no response. She stared at her master, the look of disbelief on her face.

"Please stand, Weiss."

The maid obeyed her master's request. She smiled, subtly but still enough to be noticeable.

"Thank you, Master."

There was a short pause, likely where the man in the chair nodded to her.

"You may step back now."

Weiss nodded and obeyed. At that instant the chair burst into dark flames and disappeared. All that was left was the one who was sitting in it. The figure was now standing, but his back was still turned to the group. Even still, everyone was surprised at what was standing in front of them.

"When Pietro had informed that _all _of you were arriving, I thought he was lying," the figure commented, still not facing the group. "I was positive that some, if not most of you, would be too suspicious to accept the invitation. Please, allow me to formally reward your trust."

The figure finally turned to face the guests. What shocked them the most was the size and apparent age of the man, or rather _boy_, that stood before them. His stature was equal to that of Kairi and his build almost nonexistent, possessing small features that were almost feminine. His hair was a dirty blonde color, but it held a noticeable shine and appeared to be very silky despite the fact that it was cut short, barely enough to have bangs down to his thin eyebrows. His head was slightly triangular in shape and his skin was noticeably tan. His eyes were sharp and yet soothing at the same time, and his mouth was formed into a haughty yet still respectful grin. Although there was no doubt his irises would be amber and retain a glow just like everyone else, his deserved special mentioning because of how strong they radiated. If one was to guess his age, they probably would have thought he was barely a teenager. Even more unsettling was that this boy was the source of the mature and adult voice that they had been listening to but moments earlier.

His outfit was peculiar yet regal at the same time. All the colors were such a dark shade that they were almost black, not counting the garments that _were _black. He wore an indigo coat with coattails that extended from his waist down to his ankles, not that that was a particularly long distance. The coat was kept open showing a red collared shirt underneath, held together by several black buttons. The collar was popped up and it extended a good three inches forward beyond his chin. Around his neck was a black floppy bowtie held together at the center with a silver clip in the shape of spider. His pants were also the same color as his coat and on his feet were black and somewhat pointed dress shoes. On both hands was a black glove with a red spider outline on the back.

"I am Arachnus," stated, "ruler of Nightlife, owner of Silk Tower, and, not to gloat, but I am often considered the face of our kind. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances, and an honor to have you all here."

"Y-You're Arachnus," Sora stuttered.

"That is what I had just said," replied the boy matter-of-factly.

"But you're kinda-"

Kairi elbowed him gut, cutting him off.

"Shut it!" she said between clenched teeth.

Surprisingly, Arachnus roared with laughter. "I assure you, my dear, that isn't necessary. Speaking of my physical stature or my appearance is not taboo. I would much prefer you all speak freely." He cocked his head to the side. "So you're Sora." Sora nodded in response. "I see the descriptions of you're appearance were fairly accurate."

Sora groaned. "Let me guess, that I looked like a hedgehog?"

"Uh, no I was told-"

"Porcupine then?"

Arachnus raised an eyebrow but made no response.

"Echidna? Cactus? Starfish?"

Arachnus smirked. "Is such a description normal? I was simply told you were a young man with blue eyes and brown spiked hair."

Sora just stared for a moment then hung his head with embarrassment. He had just made a complete fool of himself. Riku did his best to stifle a laugh with little success, Kairi giggled, Donald and Goofy both chuckled and the rest smirked.

"I see that you three are wearing the outfits I prepared," Arachnus stated, changing the subject. "Do you like them?"

"Yeah. They're really something," Riku answered.

"I'm glad to hear it. I designed them myself. If I may say, I think you all look great in them… especially you." On that note he walked over to Kairi, scanning her up and down as he went. "I see Vert took no liberties in preparing you for tonight. You look simply ravishing."

Kairi was caught off guard and wasn't able to respond. "May I?" he asked extending his hand. Kairi hesitated a moment then extended her own. He gently took it, bending over to give the back of her hand a quick kiss. Kairi blushed; She had never been treated like this before. Riku snuck a quick glance at Sora and saw he was slightly flustered by this turn of events. Riku rolled his eyes.

_If this turns into a love triangle this whole arrangement can go straight to-_

Right then Kairi screamed in terror. Everyone was taken aback, even Arachnus.

"On your shoulder!" she shouted.

Arachnus took a moment to understand what she meant, then looked to his shoulder. On it sat a brown and furry tarantula. Arachnus sighed and chuckled, gently picking up the creature in one hand and stroking it with the other.

"I must apologize," he said. "I spend so much time with my pets I often forget they are not a particularly revered species."

"'Pets?'" Daisy asked, rather disturbed at the thought. At that moment everyone realized where the tower had gotten its name.

"No no! I don't have a problem with spiders," Kairi lied. "I was just surprised is-"

Arachnus held up his free hand and Kairi quieted. "I understand what you are trying to do, but as I said before I would much prefer if you spoke completely candidly. I assure you I will take no offense unless offense was meant." He then turned to the maid. "Weiss, I will be taking them to the conference room now. If you could prepare some tea."

"What kind?" she asked.

"I fancy Earl Grey this afternoon."

She bowed and disappeared through a dark corridor.

"'Afternoon?' But it was dark when we got here," King Mickey stated.

He chuckled. "I see we have much to discuss." He brought the spider closer to him and began speaking to it. "I have to go now, Marion. Go back to your brothers and sisters. He raised his hand and the spider as high into the air as he could. The creature let out a single thread and jumped towards the ceiling. The group's gaze followed it and then froze. Above them, the entire time, was a massive funnel web on the walls, leading upward far beyond where they could see. Within it where thousands of spiders of all shapes and sizes. If that wasn't enough beyond the darkness there were eight yellow eyes glowing at them, each the size of a fist. The only comfort that could be found in the situation was that the no doubt massive creature was so far above them that the torchlight did not reach it.

"If you'll follow me, please," Arachnus said, managing to slip by the group and open the door while everyone else flabbergasted. "I believe you'll find the conference room to be much more to your liking."

He began the walk down the hallways and everyone immediately followed without a word, more than happy to exit the room. The door closed by itself behind them, startling the group for a moment before they continued. Once they had caught up to the peculiar lord he opened the door to their destination. The room was similar in color and style to the hallways that led the guest rooms. The room was painted the same green color and was lit in a similar manner. In the center of the room was a long rectangular wooden table with enough chairs to sit everyone present and more. In front of one of the edge seats was a cup of tea. Arachnus quickly sat himself down and took a sip. After a content sigh he asked everyone to take a seats.

"Would anyone else like some?" he asked, motioning to the cup. They all shook their heads and promptly seated themselves. "Very well. Now rather than simply listen to me ramble on and on… any questions?"

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**20 pages. 20. FIRCKIN'. PAGES. HOLY SHIT. Man… Five character introductions, so many unique different settings, costume changes, and that's just for starters! To think, if I wrote this the way I wanted to I would be merging with the next chapter, adding a good ten pages at the very least! Still, I'll admit, this was fun.**

**I'll admit I wasn't using all my free time to finish this since my last update almost four months ago. I know that kind of thing is expected over summer vacation, but I got REALLY distracted. What do I mean? I mean over the course of this time I beat Final Fantasy I and II: Dawn of Souls for the Gameboy Advanced, Final Fantasy III for the DS and I've been playing God of War 2 (on Titan Mode) and Punch-Out! for the Wii. However, my time playing these games wasn't completely unproductive. If anyone wants an in depth review of FF I head to my deviantart page (I go by the same name there as I do here).**

**First of all, about the title. This is me running out of ideas and resorting to make a lame joke. Hopefully we'll never see this again (unless you maybe got a chuckle out of it).**

**A personal shout out to kingdommad, BlackRose2009, and for not only giving me a review a review on my story so far but also adding it to each of their respective KH communities. Even though I asked, it still feels good. Unfortunately you won't be able to find them immediately because you'll first have to change the fiction rating to either "all" or "M." (Also, BlackRose, yes I would be more than happy to be part of your staff. Just don't expect a lot very soon).**

**Anyway, about the outfits. I tried my best but my descriptions may have not been adequate enough, so here's a brief description of where I got the ideas from:**

**All the maids: Basically every sexy French maid outfit out there. The difference being that there's no cleavage showing and the skirts are long enough that it makes it rather difficult to get a panty shot (I'm sure the girls appreciate that).**

**Sora: I wanted something that Sora probably never would've worn in a million year because he is, at heart, a beach bum. To this end I wanted to class him up as much as possible. I wanted to give him more imperial styled outfit but I couldn't find a picture of what I was looking for to save my life. Instead, I went more along the lines of a Marine evening wear (the kind of outfit you see in all those commercials) minus the hat, sword, and medals.**

**Riku: Zoot suit. 'Nough said. If you don't know what that is look at the Jim Carrey movie **_**The Mask **_**(if you've never seen it, boy are you missing out).**

**Kairi: Let's be honest here, Kairi is adorable. Everything about her screams "cute," and yet she's one of the Princesses of Heart. So I figured "why not make her **_**look **_**like a princess?"**

**Arachnus: This outfit kinda came to as I was writing it but there were three things I knew I wanted from the start. 1. A floppy bowtie (yes that is actually the official name for that style. It's from the Victorian era. Look it up). 2. Gloves with spiders on them. 3. Some kind of coat. The exaggerated collar, the coattails, and the color all came on the fly. If I had to site my main inspiration, I'd have to point to Alucard from **_**Hellsing**_**.**

**Anyway, for those of you looking for action I'll say right now you won't see anything of the sort for at least five more chapters. For those of you who want drama, romance, comedy, and even some slight sexual content (M rated people) stay tuned. You won't be disappointed (unless I just happen to lose all my skill as a writer during that time).**


	10. The Expositional Chapter

**When You're Strange**

Chapter 9

_The Expositional Chapter_

* * *

The room was completely silent. Everyone just exchanged glances with each other, not sure what to do or say.

"Oh, come now," Arachnus said. "Surely there must be _something _that you're intent on asking."

After a brief pause Daisy spoke up. "What do you hope to get out of contacting us?"

Arachnus smiled, pleased that someone finally decided to talk. "I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific, Duchess."

"Well, first of all, _you_ contacted _us_. That means you took the initiative here. Now, there are only a few reasons I could think of that you would send that invitation to us. One is to do so to protect yourself and your kind from us. But that shouldn't have been a problem because, barring some extremely random chance, we wouldn't have been able to find you. In fact, we didn't even know your kind existed until you contacted us. If you wanted to stay safe, you would've been better off not even contacting us in the first place."

"An astute observation. But, I'm assuming you have more to say. Please continue."

"Next would be if you were doing this to lure us into a trap. That doesn't seem to be the case… so far."

"Daisy!" the Queen shouted.

"Please, it is quite alright," Arachnus assured. "I know better than most that trust is a difficult thing to build. Please continue, Duchess."

"'Daisy.'" Arachnus raised an eyebrow at that response. "Please call me Daisy," she insisted.

Arachnus chuckled. "Very well. Continue Daisy, if you please."

"Well, the last thing I can think of is you really _did _mean what said in your letter. Come to a historic agreement and all. And not just for your own protection, but for something else. So, what _is _that 'something else?' What do you stand to gain to gain from this?"

Arachnus smirked. "Before I answer, I'd like to say that that was a marvelously worded explanation. There is absolutely no chance that I could have possibly misunderstood what you meant." Daisy blushed a bit but firmly nodded. "As for your question, that is what 'what is my incentive,' I would have to answer…progress."

Everyone exchanged expressions of confusion with each other.

"I guess it's your turn to explain," King Mickey stated.

"But of course. You see, when one lives as long as I have you tend to see that most everything we hold dear is, in the grand scheme of things, trivial. There are those who have saved enough munny to buy their own worlds lose it all in an instant. Empires that conquered all that there is to see and then have crumbled within weeks. Wars have scarred or even destroyed worlds, and yet it can all end with a word. These things, despite the fact they are usually seen as 'monumental,' have failed to last. Yet other things we take for granted, the emotion of love, a person's desire for justice, an ideal that someone fought for, even a simple quote, these things have lasted eons." He paused to take a quick sip of tea. "I hope to make something that joins these ranks."

"So you want fame," Riku said. "You want your name to go down in history as the man who helped bring the realms of Light and Darkness together."

"It may appear that way, but no. I have no interest fame. In fact, I find attention to be a particularly annoying hindrance."

"That's a little hard to believe considering all the attention you're gonna get from this," Donald stated.

"A necessary evil, I'm afraid."

"So then, what _did_ you mean?" Queen Minnie asked.

"I simply want to make something that will last. And not just anything, but a _beneficial _addition to the universe which we share. I am but an agent of progress now, hoping to make a small yet significant contribution to existence. Something I could not possibly accomplish without your aid." He took a pause to have some more tea. "And that is my answer."

"That's some pretty pro bono work you're trying to do," Kairi stated. "Assuming that's all true, of course."

"I assure you it is, as you will see during your stay here. So then, next question."

"How old are you?" Sora asked without missing a beat.

Arachnus smirked and chuckled. "That's a rather personal question, wouldn't you say?"

"Maybe," Sora responded in serious tone, "but you did say 'when you've lived as long as I have.' On top of that, all those things you mentioned, liked wars and empires, you talk like you've seen them yourself. So I have to ask."

"Well, it seems someone's been paying particularly close attention to my words," the ruler answered, his smirk widening. "As you've no doubt guessed by now I am indeed much older than I appear. But as for an exact age… I'm afraid I don't know." He scratched his chin as while thinking. "When I stopped counting I was somewhere in the three hundreds, and that was _quite _a long time ago. So long ago, in fact, that I hardly remember it."

Everyone stared wide-eyed. They couldn't believe what they'd just heard.

Arachnus chuckled. "Before you ask, because I'm quite certain you will, no I am not immortal. You are not in the presence of a god in any sense of the word." The guests calmed slightly, but they were still noticeably flustered. "Perhaps another question will end this awkward silence?"

Everyone exchanged glances with each other until finally the King spoke up. "You mentioned something about it being afternoon, even though it's clearly dark outside. What's that about?"

"Ah, yes. Nightlife is a world of perpetual night, but there are indications as to what time it is. During the 'day' the moon dominates the sky alone, while at night the stars are the only objects above." The King nodded in response. "Which reminds me, we are on a time limit. Nothing pressing, but just enough so that we can't just sit here and lollygag for too long."

"Uh, how come?" Goofy asked.

"Because of the event we have panned for tonight. A concert."

"'A concert,' huh? You did mention something about entertainment in your letter," Kairi commented. "You set up a whole concert just for us?"

"Well… no. The concert was not arranged with you in mind. Instead it just happened to be set up by one of the many talents we have around here."

"So you ordered him to schedule the event around us?" Sora asked.

Arachnus snickered, then burst out laughing. Everyone was caught off guard but still waited for the small lord to quiet down.

"Heh heh. Please forgive me, but if you knew the person I was referring to you would find it particularly amusing as well. You see, to imagine this man doing any action under the _orders _of anyone, including myself, is positively ludicrous."

"I take he doesn't work for you," Riku commented. "You're not able to use you power as the ruler of this world to make him do what you want?"

"I'm not one to take such tyrannical actions. And even if I was, he _still _wouldn't pay anything I said any mind. The only reason he would do _anything _is because he _wanted _to. Furthermore, he's not actually a resident of this world. He is a drifter, going wherever he feels like at the time. Still, he can be counted on to arrive here at least once a year. I was particularly lucky to find that he was more than willing to put on a show for our honored guests. In fact, I think the mentioning of your arrival was what prompted him to agree."

The Destiny Island trio all exchanged glances with each other, all sharing the same thought as well.

_It couldn't be him… Could it?_

"What's this guy's name?" Riku asked.

"Thomas Weir. He actually requested I make sure I keep my schedule open so that he may meet you after the concert. He's a rather eccentric person, and he can also appear a bit disturbing at times, but he's not a malicious soul."

"So, is he gonna be the concert's conductor?" asked Kairi.

Arachnus snorted. "Hardly. That role will taken by Pietro. Thomas is one of the performers. Or, to be more accurate, one of the _star _performers. Despite this, it is he who organized the event, so don't expect entirely classical music. He always wants to appease his admirers, and believe me, he has quite a few. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that most if not _all _the residents of Nightlife are his fans."

"By how you describe him I'm surprised he'd share the spotlight at all."

"Well, the other star performer is an old friend of his, and the most popular resident of this world. Her name is Roonikka, and the only person whose popularity even comes close to Thomas'." Arachnus cocked his head the side in a quizzical expression. "You seem rather interested in him. Would like to see if I could possibly get him to visit you now?'

"Uh, no thanks! Sounds like you wouldn't be able to if you tried," Sora answered.

"Too true. He is rather hard to deal with. We still have some time left. Are there any other questions?"

"Um… You mentioned in your letter that you, your _kind_, had found a middle road between Light and Darkness. How?" asked Kairi.

Arachnus smiled. "I was waiting for this question to be asked. Yes indeed, what makes us unique should be explained. If I could have but a moment…" Arachnus set down his teacup and began typing on a keyboard hidden within the table surface. The room dimmed, which was peculiar considering it was lit by candles, and then a small lens extended upward from the table's center. "I can provide a visual aid."

With a few more quick keystrokes the lens lit up and projected a holographic image above the table. The image it was projecting was that of a heart. It shone with a modest yet beautiful light. If one looked closely they would notice a small mass of darkness darting back and forth between the edge and the interior.

"This is an average heart," Arachnus began. "As you can see it is composed mostly of Light and a small amount of Darkness. Both attempt to assume complete control over the heart and although the Light is clearly the dominating force neither is able to extinguish the other. Nearly every resident of the Realms of Light and Twilight have hearts similar to these."

"'Realm of Twilight?'" Kairi asked.

"Ah yes, perhaps I should explain. Most researchers agree that there are four main Realms. Yours is the Realm of Light and ours the Realm of Darkness. But this you know. The space between the two, where the Light and Darkness begin to mix is referred to as the Realm of Twilight. Depending on where one is within this realm either Light or Darkness will dominate. However, no matter where one may reside in this realm both elements are always present. Two worlds you may be familiar with in this realm are Twilight Town and Yen Sid's Tower. Twilight Town is closer to the Realm of Light while Yen Sid's home is nearly exactly between the two realms. Is this understood?" The group nodded in response. "Very well. The fourth realm is the Realm of Nothingness. This is a particularly dangerous realm because its nature is to turn everything that resides in it into nonexistence. For a living being to continue to stay alive they must continually engage in some sort of cognitive activity in order to affirm their existence. Failure to do this will result in them being extinguished. From what we have been able to ascertain the only ones that have been in this realm, aside from a few researchers of mine, and have lived to tell the tale are Ansem the Wise and-"

"Us," Riku finished. "I'm surprised. We didn't really go around telling everyone about that. How'd you find out?"

"There are those within the three realms of light and dark who have the power to, through concentration, feel and interpret fluctuations in the universe and are able to ascertain events without being present. Those who specialize in this ability are called 'Seers.' However, one does not have to devote themselves entirely to these powers to be able to use them, but those that do not will be less efficient at it. As you have no doubt guessed I have some of these specialists under my employ. Through them I have been able to keep track of you for some time."

"If that's true why didn't you know what I looked like before you met us?" Sora asked.

"A Seer is not able to see an actual image as to what transpires, just the nature and fluctuation of Light and Darkness. It is not a perfect method as one has no idea what exactly the fluctuations mean and are forced to interpret them themselves. We have mostly been able to keep track of you by the distinct nature of the Keyblade. I must say, my Seers were quite shocked to find not one but _four _Keyblades being wielded. "

"So you know everything that's happened between us?" King Mickey asked.

"No. As I mentioned before one must be intently focused to use these techniques and they require a sizeable amount of energy as well. Furthermore, those with enough skill to notice the fluctuations of a specific individual are exceedingly rare. Most only have the power to notice changes on a world. Also, likely due their nature, it is much easier to notice fluctuations in the Realms of Light and Twilight than in the Realm of Darkness. Additionally, Seers have found it nearly impossible to notice fluctuations in the Realm of Darkness while _in _the Realm of Light. In other words it would be much easier for us to keep track of you than it would for you to keep track of us. Finally, Seers have found it impossible to notice _anything _that happens in the Realm of Nothingness. I would seem the nature of that realm causes such. Have I explained myself clearly?" Once again, the group nodded. "By the way, I have been meaning to ask, how _did _you escape the Realm of Nothingness? The only way we have found to travel to or from that realm is with the aid of the Corridors of Darkness. From what I understand Riku had lost his ability to make such paths."

"The Light opened a path for us to the Realm of Darkness," Riku answered. "Not long after that another one opened up to our Island."

"The _Light _did so?" Arachnus asked in a shocked tone. Riku and Sora both nodded. "Fascinating," he muttered, scratching his chin in a classic thinking pose. "Perhaps this has something to do with rumored 'Power of the Worlds' our Seers have mentioned. It happens rarely but every so often there are massive and unexplained fluctuations within the universe, as if for a moment it is a living being." After a few more moments of pondering Arachnus looked back up toward the image of the heart above the table. "I'm sorry. We've gotten quite off track, haven't we? Please allow me to continue."

A few more quick keystrokes and the image above the table changed. The heart radiated with an amazing amount of splendor and the presence of Darkness all but gone. "This is the heart of one of the Princesses of Heart, like yourself Kairi. Not only is the Darkness completely missing but the Light within it is at a level that cannot be found anywhere else or achieved by any method, save for the others in the group. We don't know exactly what causes a heart to be made this way but from what we have found it seems to be this way since birth. Many of our researchers have theorized that it is absolutely impossible for a heart like this to take on any Darkness, no matter what the means. At the opposite end of the spectrum," a few more keystrokes and the heart darkened. Eventually it lost all semblance of being a heart and became nothing more than a mass of Darkness. There was but a tiny speck of weak light at the center. "This is what the heart of most of your opponents have been like. Those like Maleficent have achieved the closest amount of Darkness possible without losing themselves. To go any further, to snuff out the light altogether, and the person would cease to be. Even in the evilest of heats there must be light. There is but one more form of heart to which you are familiar with."

After more typing the heart began to become much brighter, almost to the point where it was as bright as a normal heart. However, the Darkness was noticeably present, almost like a black amorphous creature moving around it. "This is the heart of someone who has taken on the Darkness but is still not being influenced by it. Through sheer willpower the person has kept the Darkness from taking over their nature. Because of this it may even be possible for the person to control the Darkness without risking further influence."

"So in other words, this is my heart," Riku stated.

"And likely a heart similar to Ansem the Wise, yes."

"How come I don't feel like I'm fighting the Darkness in my heart now like I used to?"

"There are some theories. One is that, from what we have been able to ascertain, the level of Darkness within you is less now than it was when you were assisting Ansem the Wise. Also there is the possibility that you have been keeping the Darkness in check for so long that you do it subconsciously now. But, no one can say for sure." Riku nodded, satisfied with the answer. "So, these are all the kinds of hearts that you would be familiar with by now. But now we must show you the nature of _our _hearts."

Once again he entered commands onto the keyboard. Everyone gazed at the projection in eager anticipation, wanting to see what it was that was so special about these unique people. When the heart had ceased changing everyone was noticeably surprised. Most of the heart was Darkness and was as deep and black as that of the heart of a villain. However, not only did it still retain the form of a heart but also at the center was a small ball of brilliant Light comparable in brightness to the heart of one of the Princesses.

"This is an example of one of our hearts," Arachnus stated. "When I mentioned we had found a middle road between the Light and the Darkness, this is what I meant. By focusing all of our Light into a single spot we have created a core that no amount of Darkness can overtake. And because the Light no longer attempts to fill our entire heart, the Darkness is allowed to flow freely within the rest of it. With this structuring we are able to enjoy all the benefits that the Darkness has to offer without fearing any negative consequences."

"That's amazing," Queen Minnie said. "But, how?"

"It is not an easy task. Our hearts have gone under modifications. None are born like this, and the process of altering a heart to a state such as this is by no means easy. First one's heart must be like Riku's, possessing a large amount of Darkness but still not overcome by it. Then, one must use their will to focus and temper the Light within, an arduous process that may even take days for some."

"So, everyone here is like this?" asked Donald.

"No. Many have yet to undergo this process and are still more akin to Riku. They simply wait in anticipation for when they will be able to handle the stress of such an event."

"You mean it hurts?" Daisy asked.

"No, but the stress can kill a person if they are not ready."

"Why would somebody do this?" Kairi asked, a look of fear and amazement on her face.

Arachnus smirked. "A peculiar kind of people. People who are enchanted by the power of Darkness, but are adamant about still remaining righteous." He chuckled. "If one was particularly pig-headed, one might say those who wish to use the powers of evil for the sake of good."

"No offense, but that sounds pretty… weird," Sora stated.

"Sora!" Kairi shouted.

"Diplomacy is not achieved by conforming others to a certain view, but rather being able to accept the views of others even if they contradict your own," Arachnus stated. He smiled and said, "Just because we may not see eye to eye does not mean we cannot be allies. Perhaps even friends."

The group looked to Arachnus rather surprised. He in no way seemed offended and from what he said it seemed more and more likely that he truly did intend to make good on his promise of diplomatic relations.

Sora smiled. "Yeah, I guess so."

It was at that point a dark portal opened up but a few feet from the table. As it dispersed, Weiss took its place.

"My apologies for my intrusion, master," she said and quickly bowed. "We need to leave now to make it in time for the concert."

"What do you mean? We have plenty of time."

"Not for their preferred method of travel we do not."

"Ah, yes. I keep forgetting. Weiss, please escort them down to the hangar. I will be waiting."

Arachnus then disappeared through a portal. Weiss made a short bow then proceeded to open the door. All the guests got out of their seats, bowed back, then followed her out the door. There was some chatter between everyone except for Weiss, who kept leading the group along, and Sora, who was lost in his own thoughts. Everything that had been said and shown to him since he got here, it was a lot to take in. On top of that, he had to decide if any of it was true or not. If it wasn't, then Arachnus was officially the most skilled deceiver that Sora had ever met. If it was, then Sora's whole world had just been turned on its head.

He had always believed that the Darkness was evil, and why wouldn't he? Just look at the examples that had been presented before him. Jafar, Ursala, Oogie Boogie, Hades, Scar, Maleficent, Xehanort's heartless, the only one out of that whole group who didn't really seem that evil was Pete, and that was just because he was a bumbling idiot. Iago turned over a new leaf, but that was mostly because he was afraid of Jafar. Still, he did learn what it took to be one of the good guys, and when he left Agrabah he seemed to be heading on the right track. The only people who he knew that continued to use the Darkness but still stayed good were Riku and Ansem, but even those came with conditions. Riku stayed himself for the most part at first, but as he kept getting deeper and deeper it was obvious he was being controlled, tricked into thinking that what he was doing was going to help save Kairi. It wasn't until after he was possessed by Xehanort's heartless that the real him began to shine through again. He eventually became just like his old self even while controlling the Darkness, but that was because he was fighting for control. Ansem, on the other hand, was cautious. He saw what the Darkness had done to his students and did everything he could to ensure he didn't succumb to the same path. Unfortunately, even though the Darkness had no control, he had lost himself in revenge. The need for warriors of the Light to carry out his vengeance for him likely played a part in him not succumbing as well. At least he found himself again before he died.

But the residents here in Silk Tower were so different from anyone who had sought out the Darkness, and he was still coming to grips with it. Not only did they not seem evil, they seemed _human_. Hong was peppy, stubborn and lively, almost exactly like Yuffie. Aoi was polite and sweet, but not above a little childish teasing. Vert was well mannered but at the same time a little cocky as well. Pietro was an all business type guy but his few moments of embarrassment clearly showed that there was something beneath that prim and proper attitude. The only two that seemed a little less than human were Weiss and Arachnus. Weiss was stoic and reserved but although he couldn't tell it seemed she was desperately _trying_ to be friendly. Arachnus on the other hand stood out from the almost unsettling contrast between his appearance and his personality. Not only was he incredibly mature and intelligent but his patience and understanding was seemingly limitless. Still, if you took away the glowing eyes and dressed them up in some less conspicuous clothing he wouldn't have batted and eye at any of them. The main difference between them and those he battled before is that these guys seemed mostly content with what they had, unlike his former opponents who had an unquenchable thirst for power.

"YO!"

"Huh?"

"Hey Sora! You still in there?" Riku asked with a smirk on his face.

"Wow, Sora, that's pretty impressive!" Kairi stated.

"What is?" Sora asked.

"You can sleepwalk with your eyes open!"

Everyone else, aside from Weiss, snickered.

"Shut up, Kairi! I was thinking!"

"Sora's thinking!?" Riku asked in faux shock. "Stop the presses!"

All of Sora's friends burst out laughing. He was about to yell back at Riku until something caught his eye: Weiss was snickering. It was very subtle but unmistakable. Sora just grinned.

_I guess she is human._

"Well, excuse me for actually thinking about the monumental amount of stuff we were just told today."

"We've been doing the same thing, except we've been talking to each other about it."

"Yeah? Think of anything aside from how much this'll change the universe if this whole thing works out?"

"Um… Well…"

"Yeah, like I thought," Sora finished with a grin and kept walking past Riku.

"Wow, Riku. I can't believe you just got burned by Sora," Kairi stated with a smirk.

"Why does that sound as much an insult to me as it does to him?" Sora asked looking rather annoyed.

"Because it was," Kairi answered, still smirking.

"Remind me why I'm going out with you again?"

Kairi held her smirk and walked past him saying, "Because you can't keep your eyes off me."

Sora chuckled and followed. "Right. How could I forget?"

Riku rolled his eyes and followed with the rest of the group. As everyone chattered Weiss led them back to the elevator. She opened the door and led them all inside, closing the door behind them. Before she place her palm on the scanner she turned to the rest of the group and asked, "Would our honored guests mind if I tried something a bit different this time?"

"What do you mean by that?" the Queen asked.

"Something to speed up our arrival time. There will be no use of the Corridors of Darkness, I assure you."

"Well… I guess it's fine then." The Queen looked to her friends who, somewhat hesitantly, nodded in affirmation.

"Very well. One moment please."

Weiss took a deep breath and let out a slow exhale. As she slowly lifted her arms into the air the walls and floor of the elevator began to become covered with darkness, slowly creeping along with the motion of her arms. The group began to get a bit nervous, but said nothing.

"'Hold on to your hats,' as they say," Weiss warned before thrusting both arms downward. The elevator raced downward with great speed, the group having to hold on to the walls to keep their balance. Judging by the passing lights they were dropping by several floors per second. Before anyone could object to what was happening Weiss took another deep breath and she exhaled the darkness began to face away, as did the elevator's extra boost in speed. The elevator slowly reached a stop and the doors opened. Behind them stood Arachnus, Aoi, and Vert.

"Well that was rather quick," the young lord stated.

"You didn't do the elevator thing, did you?" Aoi asked.

"You mean she's done this before?" Kairi asked, still trying to calm her heart.

"It's her idea of a practical joke," Vert answered with a smirk.

"'Practical joke?'" Riku echoed, feeling his heartbeat finally begin to slow.

"Well, _I _found it amusing at least," Weiss stated, with the subtlest of noticeable grins on her face.

The group just stared for a few moments, then Sora began to chuckle.

"You sure have an interesting way of breaking the ice, I'll say that much."

"Thank you."

"Hey, where's Hong?" Donald asked.

"She's back inside making preparations for when we return," Arachnus replied. "Well then, if we're quite ready, follow me please."

Arachnus and the maids led the group through a short hallway until reaching what looked like a hangar bay out of a sci-fi movie. There were several different kinds of gummi ships lined against both walls and lights directed attention out towards the hangar exit, essentially a giant hole leading outside. Already prepared in front of them was gummi ship resembling more of a limo than anything else. Vert took the driver's seat while Aoi took the passenger's seat. Everyone else stepped into the back. Sure enough, the inside was like a limo as well, complete with two black leather seats facing each other as well as maroon felt flooring. Across the sides of the interior were cup holders as well as compartments containing ice and wine bottles, among other things. Everyone took their seats and soon the vehicle rose and exited the hangar, passing over the bustling city below.

The King, Queen, and Daisy conversed with Arachnus about how they would go about introducing each other to the realms, Weiss sat patiently and quietly, and Donald and Goofy gazed at the sights of the city. Sora was doing the same until Riku tapped him the shoulder.

"What?" he asked.

"We need to talk," Riku whispered.

"About what?" Sora asked again, seeing no need to lower his voice.

"This 'Thomas' guy," answered Kairi in a whisper.

Sora grew serious and nodded. "You're thinking the same thing, right?" he asked, his tone now a whisper.

"Yeah. That description he gave, it sounds a lot like Odd," Riku commented.

"What are we gonna do?" Kairi asked. "We can't just ask 'hey, does this Thomas guy have a nickname?' He's gonna ask why, and we can't just lie about it."

"Besides, we're not here on a search and destroy mission to get Odd, we're here to get the alliance to go smoothly," Riku added.

"Yeah, I know, but remember, we don't know its him," Sora pointed out. "Remember what Arachnus said? He said this Thomas guy may act weird, but he's not a bad guy. Does that sound like Odd to you?" Both of them shook their heads. "Exactly, and I don't think we've got him pegged wrong."

"Even if we do, and it does turn out to be him, he said that Thomas isn't working for him," Riku added. "He's not even a resident of this world. Anything he does isn't overseen by Arachnus, so we can't associate the two together."

"All the same, we can't do anything about it now," Kairi stated. "Let's just try and enjoy the show. If it is him, we'll talk about it afterwards. Agreed?"

The two boys nodded in response.

"Hey guys! Look!" Goofy shouted, pointing out the window of the vehicle. All attention turned to see an upcoming stadium. It seemed to be shape like an ocean wave, starting at a point and expanding both horizontally and vertically while curling back in towards itself, ending high in the sky, appearing as if it was just about to collapse on itself. The whole building seemed to be made of a finely smoothed and polished black wood, likely the same as Arachnus' amazing disappearing throne. Furthermore it was massive, large enough for the trio's island to fit in it.

"Holy crap," Riku muttered.

"Honored guests, I'd like to introduce the Soundwave Concert Hall," Arachnus said.

"You guys seem to like going over-the-top with your architecture, huh?" Kairi stated.

"Not me personally, no. Silk Tower should have been a clue to that. But, who am I to stop the creative talents we have here?"

The vehicle began to descend towards street level by the stadium where a red carpet, and thousands of spectators, were eagerly waiting.

Arachnus sighed. "And here comes the peanut gallery," he muttered.

"You knew they would arrive, Master," Weiss stated.

"I did indeed. It does not, however, mean I have to enjoy their presence."

"Paparazzi?" Kairi asked.

"Worse, although they will be there as well. I'm dreading the tabloids. I wonder what those little vultures will dream up this time."

"I'm guessing you don't have a good experience with them," The King commented.

"Such is the problem with fame. If you soak it up you are perceived as a narcissist. If you avoid it, like myself, you are perceived as having something to hide. The last time the works of those mudslingers caught my eye was their allegations that the maids were not my employees but my _sex slaves_."

"You're kidding," Sora said, an incredulous expressions on his face. "You let them say that?"

Arachnus chuckled. "I'm no tyrant. If they wish to make such lies about me, so be it. I can't control what people do for income. Besides, from what I understand, it's a rather lucrative industry. It seems people enjoy reading these works of so-called 'journalism', even if they don't believe a word of it."

"So, uh, are they all here for you?" Goofy asked.

"Not just me, but you as well. True, it is rare that I come down from my tower to events like these, but even so we're practically asking for it. This world's ruler and perhaps the most well known denizens of the Realm of Light including the King and Queen of Disney Castle, the chosen hero of the Keyblade _and _one of the Princesses of Heart, in addition to their friends? And to top it off attending a performance done by the two most popular entertainment talents this world has seen? Any photojournalist would have to be _insane_ to miss this opportunity."

"Well, you've got a good point there," Daisy admitted.

As the vehicle landed the sound of the clamoring reporters outside could be heard as a loud roar, even through the closed doors and windows of the limousine-esque vehicle.

"A word of advice," Arcahnus started, "unless you want them to leech on you for hours I'd suggest walking by without answering any questions. Be friendly if you'd like, but just keep walking."

At that point Vert and Aoi got out the gummi ship and began to make their way around to the door facing the concert hall. Vert handed one of the valets the keys to the vehicle while Aoi opened the door. The roar of the crowd exploded into an almost deafening scream as the blinding lights of cameras began to fire off without any sings of stopping. Arachnus exited first with Weiss in tow and upon leaving the vehicle joined with Vert as well. The three continued down the red carpet seeming to ignore the crowd. Next were King Mickey and Queen Minnie who responded in a friendlier manner to the crowd, waving and smiling back, but still continued onward without stopping. Following them were Donald, Goofy and Daisy. Goofy remained his happy-go-lucky self and waved enthusiastically back to the crowd while Daisy mimicked the King and Queen's behavior of acting friendly but reserved. Donald, however, was stood proud and grinned from ear to ear as he walked along the red carpet, soaking up every minute of the attention he was receiving. Finally came the Destiny Island trio, who were immediately followed by Aoi who closed the door once they had exited the vehicle. Aoi imitated her fellow coworkers and ignored the crowd. Sora, Riku and Kairi did their best to put on a smile and wave back, but the atmosphere was overwhelming. The walk up to the doors of the theatre, which thankfully were closed behind them, was nothing but an uncomfortable blur.

"God, who'd ever want to be a celebrity if you have to deal with _that _everywhere you go?" Riku muttered.

"A bit much, isn't it sir?" Aoi commented with a smirk.

"We're not used to anything like this, especially considering we're from a calm little island chain," Kairi explained.

"Well you'll be happy to know that you won't have to deal with the same thing on the way out," Vert assured them.

"Well then, let the final preparations begin," Arachnus said. "Aoi, escort Sora, Riku and Kairi to their seats please. Vert. please do the same with Donald, Goofy and Daisy. Weiss, tell Pietro to make his final preparations. Your majesties, if you'll please follow me."

Weiss disappeared through a dark corridor while everyone else split into one of three different paths. Sora's group headed to the right, Donald's went left and Arachnus' went forward. The Destiny Island trio followed Aoi up a long carpeted staircase leading to a door.

"Enjoy the show, and the view," Aoi said with a grin before opening the door. The three were surprised to find they actually had their own private balcony seats, sitting stories above the stage and everyone else. The rafters and lighting equipment looked almost with jumping distance. "If you need anything just press the buttons on your chairs. I'll be going now Sir Riku, Sora, Kairi." Aoi gently closed the door behind them.

"Why did she only call you 'Sir'?" Sora asked with a smirk.

"Does someone have a crush on Riku?" Kairi teased.

"Shut up," Riku muttered in response.

The three sat down in the cushioned chairs that had been prepared for them and gazed at the sight before them. Below them was the widest and tallest part of the theatre was the stage itself, which stretched from end to end horizontally and extended forward about a quarter of the way of the entire concert hall. It was fully exposed with no curtains obscuring any of it, and was covered with several different seats arranged in a particular manner. At the center of the front of the stage but a few feet away from the front row of the crowd was a small podium, likely where Pietro would be conducting. There were around 100 or so chairs arranged closely around it with one positioned directly to the right of it. In the back, touching the walls, were two wooden bleachers extending upwards far enough for four rows of people, likely able to seat 20 persons in each row.

After observing the stage their gaze soon turned to that of the crowd below. Even being as high up as they were they could notice something peculiar about the audience. What they expected to see were some extremely high-class citizens dressed in expensive clothing and have particularly snooty looking expressions, maybe a few well dress middle-class people mixed in. Although those kinds of people were present there were also people dessed in much more casual and, in some cases, gaudy clothing, ranging from emo, goth, rockers, costumes, and in some cases what could only be described as beachwear. By the looks of things this performances like these didn't exclude _anyone_. It remained to be seen whether this was something that was exclude to Thomas' shows or something that was done all throughout Nightlife.

Looking more at their own level, they saw two other balconies. The one farthest from they held Donald, Goofy and Daisy while the one closest to them, which was also in the center, contained the King, Queen and Arachnus.

Suddenly, the lights began to dim and the chatter of the crowd died down. The show was about to begin…

* * *

**Sorry this took so long everybody, but a lot of shit got in the way.**

**Ok, so, lots of talking in this chapter, lots of explanations, but I've done my research. All the stuff about the four realms has been confirmed to be true, everything else I've made up myself but based heavily on the cannon of the series. The "Seers" came as an explanation to "how do the villains know when to show up?", as for the "power of the worlds" that's my name for all of the "dues ex machina" moments in the series, when something beneficial that doesn't seem to be orchestrated by anyone just seems to happen. The heart composition of the residents of Nightlife and the process by which it is achieved is of my own creation, something I thought long and hard about.**

**As for the rest of the dialogue it's a bit… well I don't want to say "random", I did give it some thought, but it was kinda thrown in to A) make everyone seem more human, B) make the transitions from place to place seem more smooth, and C) fill in time. I hope you enjoy it even if it is essentially pointless.**

**Finally, I would like to make a possible apology in advance for the next chapter, when I write I try to describe the way it happens in my head. But now I'm going to attempt to describe in words not only musical performances but the music itself. Some of these songs will be sung in languages I know virtually nothing about while others have no signing at all. Needless to say this is probably going to be my most ambitious chapter in the entire story. If it doesn't work well, don't worry, it won't be happening (at least not in the same way) again. If it does, great, thanks for telling me. As for the songs themselves, all of them will be real songs, and I'll list them in the author's comments at the bottom of the chapter. However, some of the songs I've chosen I've yet to find on youtube, but I did download them from iTunes. I'm sorry about that, but I thought long and hard about which ones I wanted. Anyway, with any luck, the next chapter will be done by early February.**

**Later!**


	11. Uncivilized Negotiations

**When You're Strange**

Chapter 10

_Uncivilized Negotiations_

***Author's Note***

**Two things I need to mention here. First of all, I'm sorry it's taken me this long to get to this, but in all fairness it's not only laziness that's gotten in the way. Other projects, including my own original story, have been started, I've moved, I've been posting revised and edited versions of this story's chapters on deviantart (which I will probably post here replacing the current chapters), I've been working at college, a part time job, and playing lots of games (I didn't say there wouldn't be any irresponsibility, did I?). But the biggest issue was that the next chapter I had planned to write, the one I'm skipping over to write this, was just a massive block in my path of progress. I realized after several attempts I'd just bitten off way more than I could chew. So I'm skipping it to keep the plot going. I may go back to it eventually, but for the moment it's been pushed to the side. Thank you for your understanding. **

**And now we return you to **_**When You're Strange**_**, already in progress.**

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It had been a whole thirty minutes since the concert had ended, a little over and hour since it started. It had taken some time and coordination for Arachnus to get himself and his guests out with much hassle from the vultures outside, but with his assistants' help he had managed. Now everyone, excluding Pietro and Hong who were off with their duties, was back in the Golden Room, relaxing and enjoying discussions of random things. In that respect things were now going smoothly, but in one critical area it was not.

No matter how hard they tried to hide it, and he could tell they were indeed trying, something had put Sora, Riku and Kairi in a bad mood. Arachnus had realized early on that for his goal to be achieved Sora, even more than the King, was the one he needed to sway. And since his two close friends held very similar opinions and standings on issues that also meant influencing Kairi and Riku as well. But what was most frustrating, unnerving even, was that he couldn't for the life of him figure out what had put them in such a state. They had enjoyed Thomas' concert, that he knew from simply watching their expressions and reactions. In fact all of his guests had found it very enjoyable, even after Thomas had thrown in a surprise final performance where he used the Darkness not only to play a dark and ethereal song by himself but also using his power to put on a wild and almost ghastly special effects show to go along with the music. Arachnus became especially nervous when he saw this, afraid this somewhat terrifying display would have put off his guests, but thankfully they, like the crowd, responded not with fear but with thunderous applause, the Destiny Island trio included. And yet, at some point between then and when he saw them again when they entered the gummi ship to go back to Silk Tower something had happened with them. Something had put them in an awful mood.

The powerful lord couldn't risk things getting worse. He had to solve this problem immediately. Which meant there was only one course of action to take…

"Sora?" he asked, getting the attention of the Keyblade master and his close friends sitting next to him.

"Uh, yeah?" he replied.

"Was there… something about tonight's performance that did not sit well with you?"

Sora held his breath for a moment and averted his eyes. He took quick glances at his two closest friends, who responded with similar expressions, before turning back to him.

"N-No. It was fine. I mean good, really good."

Arachnus sighed. He closed his eyes and began to rub the bridge of his nose.

"Sora, I believe I mentioned that I wanted you all to be perfectly candid about any thoughts or opinions you might have. Now, please tell me honestly if there was something not to your liking."

"No, I mean it. I really did like the concert. We all did."

Arachnus opened his eyes and glanced at his guest. From eons of experience he could tell that Sora truly meant what he said.

"So then, if not the performance, what is it that has displeased you and friends?"

"Nothing. Really," he quickly responded.

Arachnus sighed once more. The room had grown quite as now all attention was fixed on the Keyblade master and the world ruler.

"Sora, I believe I mentioned that this could be more than an mere alliance between our kinds, that it could be something more significant for us _personally_." Sora nodded in response. "What I did not mention was that this was my _preference_. I would like to be able to take the step and actually become friends with you. And one thing that friends do is that they help each other solve their problems, no matter how large or small they are. Now, I will not press any further than this if you do not wish so, but I would appreciate it if you gave me the opportunity to be your friend right now."

Sora, Kairi and Riku stared at the lord with mild surprise before exchanging glances with each other. A brief moment of exchanging information through looks passed between them before Sora spoke.

"It was at the end of the concert, when everybody showed their faces."

Arachnus nodded. During the entire performance, with one notable exception being Roonikka, the entire cast of performers had their faces obscured by hoods or hats, depending on what kind of song was being played at the time. Arachnus had thought this to be an aesthetic choice on Thomas' part, but now he realized there was more to it.

"I take it you recognized someone?" he asked.

"That Thomas guy you were talking about? We've met," Kairi answered. "He didn't exactly make the greatest impression."

A spark of anger had arisen in Arachnus as he realized that he had been used in some no doubt frivolously childish plan. He wasn't that surprised to hear that Thomas had rubbed someone the wrong way, but they way that were acting he had done something far worse than his usual annoying tendencies.

"I do not understand. If you had met him before why did not you mention so when I described him to you?"

"We didn't know him by _that _name," Riku stated flatly.

Arachnus practically fell back into a chair, buried his face into his hands and groaned. The Disney Castle Residents looked on in confusion, neither understanding their friends or the world ruler was referring to. The maids stood quietly, looking to their master with worried expressions.

"This is my fault. I should have known. I should have known the moment that he was being so uncharacteristically compliant. I assumed I had just caught him in a good mood. And my refusal to refer to him by that _ridiculous_ nickname led to your confusion. I cannot stress how truly sorry I am."

Arachnus snapped his fingers, an action that was met with no response. After only a moment he snapped again, somehow louder, and this time a dark corridor opened up only a few feet from him. Out came Hong, stumbling over herself like she was in a hurry. She quickly stopped herself and, after regaining her balance, bowed to her master.

"Apologies for the delay, master. I was caught up with my tasks," Hong stated quickly. She raised her head and gazed around the room, noticing everyone's expressions. "Whoa, what's with the atmosphere?"

"Hong."

"Y-Yes Master?" Hong answered, somewhat taken aback by the frustration in his voice.

"You know him best, find him and bring him here _now_."

Hong gave a quizzical expression for a moment before a stroke of realization crossed her face. She sighed and muttered, "Yeah, _that's _gonna happen…"

"_HONG!_" Arachnus burst out, surprising everyone and snapping the red haired maid back to attention. "…My apologies, but I do not have the time nor the inclination to deal with your behavior. Just please do as you are told."

"Master, I… understand your frustration, and I would like to follow through on your request, but think of what you're asking me to do here," Hong replied, still a bit shaken from her master's outburst. "I mean, this is Odd we're talking about!"

Sora, Riku and Kairi all cringed at that name. Any lingering doubt of mistaken identity had now been entirely crushed at this point.

"Yes, I understand that what I am asking of you is not easily accomplished, but I still ask you to perform it under the chance it would succeed."

"And it's because I know him best that I _know _it won't," Hong pouted. "The guy does whatever the hell he wants whenever he wants. If he doesn't want to be found, he won't be. If he does, he'll show up when he feels like it, no doubt with a dramatic entrance that'll attract all attention to him and spouting some obscure reference that only he understands."

As if on cue a portal opened up behind Hong and out came the person in question, sliding on both knees. As he came to a stop he shouted "_And the Trogdor comes in the NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!_" in an almost ear-piercingly high tone while raising both hands in the shape of devil horns.

Everyone turned to stare in shock except for Hong who stood with a look of blank humorlessness. "You were waiting for someone to say that, weren't you?" she asked in a flat tone.

"No. Just you," he answered.

Hong buried her face into her hands. "I hate you. I hate you so fucking much."

The uninvited guest rapidly spun as he rose to his feet before stopping and striking a pose. He was wearing the last thing he had worn at the performance: a black and white striped three-piece suit with matching fedora. On his hands he wore black gloves that were fashioned to look as though his hands were clawed.

"Aloha, kiddies!" he shouted enthusiastically, obviously addressing the Destiny Island trio. "How've ya been?"

"Oh, I'm just dandy," Sora replied as he stood. "Especially considering I'm about to crack your damn head open!" he shouted while summoning his Keyblade.

"That's enough," interrupted Arachnus, stepping in front of Sora.

"Get out of my way, right now, or I _swear_ I will-!"

With the snap of his finger Arachnus summoned a mass of Darkness that enveloped Sora up to his neck. It hardened around him, trapping Sora in an unbreakable cocoon. Riku and Kairi quickly responded by summoning their weapons and placing them to the small lord's neck. Before anyone else could react Weiss had moved behind the two in a flash of speed, tightly grabbing both their wrists, the look of fierce anger upon her face.

"How_ dare_ you!" she seethed in a quiet yet terrifying voice. "Cease this at once, or I shall-!"

"Enough, Weiss," ordered Arachnus, his voice calm yet stern. The maid stared at her master in shock. He merely nodded his head and, after a brief hesitation, nodded in response, releasing the two Keyblade warriors' arms before returning to her calm and stoic demeanor. They, in response, lowered their weapons, but did not disperse them.

"_LET ME OUT OF THIS THING!"_ Sora shouted as he struggled as hard as he could.

"It will release you once you've calmed down. As for your two…" Arachnus raised his hands and parted them like he opening a curtain. Amazingly, Riku and Kairi slid across the floor, pulled by some unseen power, making a path for him to walk towards Odd. They, and the Disney Castle residents, were far too stunned to react or protest. Arachnus took the path he had made for himself, stopping about a yard or two from the new arrival. He gazed intently at the wandering performer, completely undeterred by the height difference between them, commanding a great presence despite his size. Odd's confidence, however, seemed to match it.

"Now then, Thomas, it would seem-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on there!" the taller man interrupted. " What did I tell you about the 'T' word? Ixnay on the Asthomay! It makes me sound old, almost as old as you!"

"_Now then, Thomas_," the small lord repeated, strengthening his tone to show he was not playing games, "_It would seem that we have a matter that we need to discuss._"

Odd folded his arms and sighed. "¿Que pasa, señor grumpypants?"

Arachnus angrily grunted before continuing. "It seems that you have failed to mention certain important details about your previous exploits, namely that you have met and left a decidedly sour impression with three of my honored guests. An impression that, unless I am somehow mistaken, seems to extend far beyond your usual childish annoyance."

"Hey, it's not my fault you didn't ask."

"Indeed, that fault rests with me alone. A mistake I do not intend to repeat. Perhaps you would see fit to explain what exactly you did to make these three detest you so?"

"Oh well, you know. A little of this, a little of that, nothing too big," he answered nonchalantly.

"You little…" Kairi muttered under her breath.

"Specifics, if you please," Arachnus pressed.

"Heh. Well… I sorta…" Odd paused to inhale deeply before continuing in rapid fire speech. "Accidentally found my way to their island where I realized who they were and I wanted to fight them so I kidnapped the girl that way the other two would fight as hard as they could when I met them later but then I found out she could fight too so I took on all three of them where I then pretty much beat them to a pulp."

A myriad of reactions spread across the group, none of them positive.

"You did _what!_" Hong shouted in disbelief.

"Speak straight, you damn lunatic!" Riku ordered.

"Uh, did you understand any of that?" Goofy asked Donald.

"Tell me, Thomas," Arachnus started, "Are you actively _trying _to ruin my plans, or **ARE YOU TRULY SO BRAINLESS!**" With those last words boomed a voice of incredible magnitude, immediately hushing everyone else in the room. Sora, now no longer focused on freeing himself, was released from his bonds, something he hardly noticed what with the dark aura now emanating from the young lord's body, which sent chills down the spines of all the denizens or the Realm of Light, and some of the maids too. "**DID I NOT ADEQUATELY EXPLAIN THE DELICACY OF THE SITUATION? DID I NOT STRESS THAT IT WAS PARAMOUNT THAT THERE BE NOTHING TO DETER MY GUESTS FROM EXPERIENCING THE BEST HOSPITALITY THAT COULD BE PROVIDED TO THEM! WAS THAT YOUR INDICATION TO RUIN ME, OR DID YOU 'CONVIENTLY FORGET' OUR CONVERSATION!**"

"Oh no, I remember that perfectly," replied the drifter nonchalantly. "And I'm not going out of way to piss you off. I just don't care!" His cocky grin stretched to cheshire smile.

Mimicking his anger, Arachnus' already noticeably amber eyes were practically shining now. His mouth curled into a scowl that looked deadly enough to kill on it's own. Despite all the spectacles unleashed by his anger, Odd remained completely undeterred.

"_Until now I had tolerated your reckless and downright inconsiderate behavior as naught but a minor annoyance, but this extends far beyond the lengths of childish tomfoolery,_" Arachnus continued in a quieter, yet somehow more menacing tone of voice. "_Leave my sight now while I am still in control of my impulses._"

"Now that's not very nice, especially considering I'm trying to make amends here!"

"_What?_"

"Yeah! So why don't you give me chance here!"

Arachnus' aura began to falter for a moment before slowly subsiding. Despite shrinking in size and intensity, it was still noticeably present.

"My tolerance for your games is already at an all time low. Do not toy with me."

"Wouldn't think of it, squirt."

And with that he used his speed to position himself right in front of the Destiny Island trio. They all readied their weapons in response. They were soon joined by Donald, Goofy and King Mickey who did the same, and the drifter was also met with hostile glares from Weiss and Hong, who were already near his new location.

"Man, what's with this? Look at you all ganging up me! That's hardly fair."

"Shut the hell up, freak," Sora seethed.

"Now hold on thar, boyo," Odd replied in a thick fake Irish accent. "Thar be no need ta be resortin' ta name callin'. After all, I'm goin' outta me way to make things right again!"

"And why would you do that?"

"Because I realized I was in the wrong." Sora, Riku, and Kairi were surprised, shocked even, to hear those words come from his mouth. "You see," he began, returning to his normal voice, "as you three no doubt remember, I was pretty damn pissed when you didn't show me any gratitude for helping you guys out before. But while I was working out my anger I realized that I really didn't do enough to even out what I did before. So, as we were all kicking ass, I started thinking of ways to make it up to you. And then, when I couldn't think of anything, I left to go to my little meeting with short stack over there," he motioned to Arachnus who responded with an annoyed look, "and he dropped the answer right into my lap."

"The concert?" Riku asked. "You thought you could win us over with that?"

"Don't act like you didn't like it. I saw that standing ovation you gave at the end."

"So what? You really thought would be enough?"

"Hell no, that just phase one!"

"And what would be 'phase two?'" Kairi asked warily.

"A night on the town, led by yours truly! I know this world inside and out, every last street and back alley, all the pig-out spots," Odd grabbed Sora and before he could react pulled him in close enough to whisper in his ear, "and all the best places to take your girlfriend." Sora wrenched himself free Odd's grasp. "So whaddya say, kiddies? You gonna let me take my shot at burying the hatchet?"

Sora didn't respond, nor did anyone else. He looked back to his friends who looked back as if to waiting for his approval. His eyes stopped on Kairi before a smirk came across his face. He turned back to the eccentric vagabond.

"I don't think that's my choice to make," he answered smugly.

Odd quizzically tilted his head and Sora then motioned to Kairi. Odd took the hint and removed his hat, placing it to be held by left arm like a military leader as he stepped toward the Princess of Heart with his hand outstretched.

"Well? What do you say, mademoiselle?" he asked in a smooth tone.

Kairi hesitated for a bit and simply stared at the hand. Then, surprising everyone around her, she dismissed her Keyblade and grasped it.

"See? I knew that we could-"

Before he could finish Kairi firmly held the hand and pulled Odd forward, only for him to stop short when she plunged her fist into his gut, winding him. Before he could retreat she grabbed a hold of his hair pulled his head closer to hers.

"Here's the deal," she started, whispering menacingly into his ear. "You've got until the end of the night to try and give me _one _good reason not to have your head served on a silver platter. And believe me, if you do _anything _to screw up, I won't even wait that long. Are we clear?"

Odd took a few seconds to catch his breath before responding. "The wrinkles, babe," he wheezed. "I told you, you need to think about the-"

He was once again cut off, this time when Kairi grabbed a hold of his shoulders and rammed her knee into his most private of spots. The collective audience winced at this, except for the most stoic who simply gave a look mild shock.

"_Are. We. Clear?_" she asked once again.

"…Crystal."

Kairi released him, her face mouth curled into a smug grin that only widened as she saw him slowly stumble away, gripping his most sensitive area, which was now a bit more sensitive than usual. Her smirk vanished as he once again spun around and struck a pose, smiling from eat to ear as if nothing had happened.

"Well all right then kiddies, it's time to get ready! Don't worry about the details, I'll be handling all that myself, all you need to worry about is what to wear. Pick something casual and workable, you'll need to be able to move comfortably. Also, you might want a few identity hiding accessories, the media around here can get pretty crazy! We meet downstairs in thirty minutes! Until then, lads and lasses!"

With that he bowed and vanished through the Corridors of Darkness, leaving behind an audience with a collectively negative view of him.

"By all that is holy," Hong muttered, "I can't believe that I actually used to-" She cut herself of when she realized that breaking the silence first had attracted all attention to her. "U-Uh, I mean, are you sure about this?" she asked Kairi.

"As much as he pisses me off, I'll admit I find him interesting. If nothing else, he'll keep us entertained before I find an excuse to wipe that smirk off his face once and for all," she answered darkly.

"I don't think he would. He might act like he doesn't care, but your forgiveness must mean a lot to him."

"Why do you say that?" Sora asked.

"Well, I've never seen him actually admit he was wrong about something before. Honestly I'm pretty surprised."

"Sora." The group turned to Arachnus, his eyes now back to their normal level of radiance and his aura gone. "I wish to once again state how truly sorry am I that-"

"Save it," Sora interrupted. "Did you really think we blame you for any of the crap he did?" Everyone looked to Sora with surprise, except for Riku and Kairi. The three friends looked to each other and smirked. "Friends shouldn't apologize for things that aren't their fault," he finished.

Arachnus stared shock for a moment before a relieved smile crossed his face. "Thank you," said and made a short bow.

"Guys, are you sure ya wanna do this?" the King asked, concerned not only because of the erratic drifter but also the effect he had on the three Keyblade wielders. "Do ya really think it'll be okay to hang around a guy like him?"

"If he was gonna do something, he would've done it by now," Hong answered. "Still, I wouldn't go."

"Why not?" Riku asked.

"I don't like him."

"Neither do I, but I have to admit I'm curious."

"Hong, should we maybe keep watch over them?" Aoi asked as she and the rest approached the group. "You know, in case he tries anything?"

"I don't think we'll need to, but it's your call," she responded, directing her answer at Sora.

"No, it's ok," he answered. "As much as I don't like the guy, I've gotten the impression from all of you that he's not truly evil. I mean, even when he fought us the first time he did go out of his way to make sure we didn't die. Not that that did much to help my opinion of him." He sighed before he continued. "Call me a sucker, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. At least for the amount of trust he's asking for."

"I guess if we're going to go through with this we should take his advice," Kairi stated. "As much as I like this outfit it's not exactly the best for movement."

"Uh, Hong, can you take us back to our rooms again?" Sora asked. "I don't really remember which one it was."

Hong smirked. "Sure thing, Tiger."

"You're not dressing me this time."

"Aww, please?" Hong pouted. "It's not often I get to work with a celebrity as big as you!"

"Hong, you'd better just take him along before this becomes a fight," Aoi whispered, motioning to Kairi who was becoming increasingly aggravated.

Hong smirked and stuck her tongue out at Kairi as she latched onto Sora's arm. "Don't worry, honey, I'm not gonna take him from you. But that doesn't mean I won't have a little fun!"

"Hong!" Aoi shouted.

Hong quickly pulled Sora along before anyone can stop her. "BE BACK IN A SEC!" Sora shouted as he turned back towards his friends, stumbling along as he tried to keep up.

"So troublesome," Vert muttered. "Princess, if you please?" she asked Kairi, as she motioned in the other direction.

"And if you could follow me, Sir Riku," Aoi chimed in.

As the three Keyblade wielders were being led away Arachnus motioned Weiss towards him, which she obeyed.

"Weiss, I want you to add another task to Hong's list of duties for tonight," he whispered to her.

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As she finished removing her make up she began to pour herself a shot of whiskey. It had been an enjoyable, but still long and hard performance and she needed something to ease the fatigue.

_Maybe I'll hit a few clubs later. After all, it's my voice that got the biggest workout, and I don't need that to dance and flirt._

She drank the shot in one quick gulp and groaned.

"So, still hittin' the bottle after work, huh?"

She was surprised for a moment until she recognized the voice and smirked.

"You gonna just make comments or are you gonna show yourself?"

She saw him step out of a portal that appeared behind her, still wearing the same outfit from before.

"How've ya beem, babe?"

"Aww, I don't get the French introduction this time?"

"You always ask for the French introduction."

"Because you never seem to give it to me anymore."

"Want me to give you something else?" he asked.

She licked her lips as she fiddled with the only thing that covered her body, a bathrobe. "Maybe. Want a drink?"

"No thanks. I'm not in whiskey mood right now."

"How about champagne?"

He raised and eyebrow and smirked. "White Crystal?"

She reached below her dresser and pulled out the bottle in question. "Bought it yesterday," she commented as she uncorked the top.

"You always have 'just bought one.'"

"Of course. I only get it when I know you're coming." She got two glasses from where she got the bottle and poured the clear liquid into both. Before she could turn around to give him his he quickly rushed forward and lifted her off her seat, just enough to slip in himself, and seated her upon his lap. They grinned at each other before picking up their respective glasses. "To another of your triumphant returns."

"To you not figuring out why I'm here yet."

She paused and raised an eyebrow while he drank the entire glass in one long gulp.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means I've got a favor to ask of you."

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**Well, I'm back. Damn. What's it been, January? So long. Anyway, I hope this has been a good chapter because I haven't written anything for WYS in a while. Hopefully the mojo will keep flowing.**

**Well, anything else I would've written down here has already bee written up top, so let me just say that if you want to know what songs played during the concert just note me and I'll tell you. Although I highly doubt you'll be able to find all of them without making a purchase on iTunes.**


	12. Harmless Machinations

**When You're Strange**

Chapter 11

_Harmless Machinations_

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Half an hour after departing to their separate rooms the Destiny Island Trio had finally gathered themselves at the base entrance of Silk Tower. Accompanying them were Hong, Aoi, and Vert who insisted that they at least hand around long enough for Odd to show up.

All three of the best friends had made a dramatic change to their attire from previous, all looking much more casual than before. At the suggestion of their respective maids all three had chosen mostly dark clothing as that was what most of the world's residents usually wore and it would also help them blend into the crowds.

Sora wore a black T-shirt with the imprint of lion emblem colored in silver on the front and over that wore a black zippered hoodie that had the emblem of a dragon colored in red running from one sleeve to the other across his back. He kept the hood up to conceal his face and spiky hair from onlookers. He wore black baggy pants that had a dark blue line that ran down either side. The bottoms were intentionally a little long so that they almost completely covered the black and white checkered sneakers he wore his feet. Sora had to admit he did like the outfit, although the thought of constantly keeping the hood up made him somewhat annoyed.

Riku had dressed himself in a plain, dark blue, short-sleeved V-neck and black jeans with a golden tiger outline running down the left side. On his arms he wore black and grey striped arm warmers that ran from his wrists to his elbows and on his feet black running shoes with crimson colored laces. Helping to conceal his identity was a black tuque on his head, and he had also tied the back of his hair into a simple ponytail for good measure. Sora groaned inwardly, once again realizing that his best friend had shown to have more sense than he did.

But who had caught his attention the most was Kairi, once again showing a different side of herself with her choice of clothing. She wore a black sleeveless shirt with a hood and tight black jeans that were covered near the bottom by black steel-toed boots. She had also kept the necklace with the small black jewel from her previous outfit. Finally, to conceal her identity was a black baseball cap with a red brim as well as a red kanji symbol on the front. Sora could hardly believe how natural it seemed on her, especially considering how tough it made her look. In addition, he couldn't help but blush a little while looking at her.

"So, is he going to show up anytime so or what?" Kairi asked, the annoyance obvious in her voice.

"He'll be here. He's just waiting for an opportunity to make as big an entrance as possible," Hong answered, sounded equally annoyed.

Sora was starting to lose his patience too. Odd had said to wait thirty minutes for him to show up, but it had already been forty-five. He couldn't help but feel they were being toyed with.

"Well, I'm bored," Sora stated in a deadpan voice, then began walking. "If he's gonna make us wait then I'm going to find something in the area to kill time. You guys coming?"

'Wait Sora!" Hong shouted. "Don't go any further!"

"Huh?"

Before he could react Sora was ambushed by dozens of dark portals that opened around him. Within seconds he was blinded by flashing lights and deafened by overlapping questions.

"Sora, is it true that you've competed in the Underdrome?" "How are you liking your stay in the Realm of Darkness so far?" "What do you say to the rumors that you're secretly cheating on your girlfriend with your best friend?" "Is it true that 47% of sixteen-year old girls tell you they want to have your babies?"

"Huh? W-Whuh? W-What're-?"

Just then a powerful shrill noise arose and overpowered anything else in the vicinity. All eyes turned to the direction of the sound and at its source was a familiar drifter on a rooftop several blocks away, holding an electric guitar and having just strummed a powerful chord. He proceeded to play an extremely advanced guitar solo that lasted roughly fifty seconds before finishing with another powerful chord. As the final note was played the rooftops of several building surrounding him erupted in sparks, like pyrotechnics at a rock concert but on a massive scale.

"AND _THAT_ IS HOW YOU MAKE AN ENTRANCE!" he shouted before running off away from everyone, cackling as he went.

"There he is!" "After him!" "Forget these clowns!" "If we get interview with Odd we'll hit it big! Move it!"

The mass of reporters all immediately gave chase, some hopping onto building tops, some flying on unseen forces, and others vanishing through dark corridors. They had all left within seconds, leaving the baffled keyblade master in their dust.

"Sora!" Kairi shouted as she and the others sprinted to his side. "Are you ok?"

Sora could only stare at them dumbfounded for a moment before uttering "What… just happened?"

"That would be the paprazzi," Aoi answered. "Odd was telling the truth when he said that the journalists and reporters here were over the top."

"That's putting it mildly," Riku commented. "They were seriously here to ambush us?"

"The journalism industry is particularly competitive here in Nightlife," Vert explained. "There is so much happening in a city of this size that someone needs to be everywhere to get a story firsthand. And it must be made before your competition does. I hear disputes over who was first to get a story or a photo can get very aggressive."

"Then why didn't they come after us the second we came down here? Or hell, the way you talk about them you make it sound like sneaking into Silk Tower is something they'd try."

"Well, it's sort of an unwritten rule in the industry not to trespass the grounds of Silk Tower. Or any room or general vicinity that Master Arachnus happens to be occupying."

"Why?"

"Well-"

"First I think we'd better go," Hong interrupted. "They won't catch him and they'll be back here once they give up to hound you three again. We need to leave."

"Um, ok then. Where to, though?" Kairi asked.

Hong opened up a dark corridor in response and walked in without waiting for any feedback. While the Destiny Island trio hesitated Aoi and Vert took the hint.

"Coming?" Vert asked, stepping aside and motioning to the portal. The three hesitated for a moment before entering, the two remaining maids following soon after.

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"_You_ want to owe _me _a favor?" she asked in disbelief. "You'd never put yourself in debt to _anyone_. Not even me."

"Well, sort of, " he answered smugly. "Thing is, if it works out the way I want, you should be getting a nice benefit out of it, too. One I think should adequately pay back what I might owe you."

"Ah, so that's it. I thought it was a little strange. So just what is this little favor?"

"Did you get a good look at the special guests while you were onstage?"

"I'm assuming you mean the Princess and her two friends, right?" He nodded. "Yeah I did, interesting looking bunch. What about them in particular?"

"See anyone you like?"

"Hm… Well, they all looked pretty attractive in their own ways."

"All of them?" he asked, a devilish smirk grew on his face.

"Oh come on. You know I'm willing to try the fairer sex every once in a while, you homophobe."

"I'm not homophobic."

"Then how come you've never tried men?"

He shrugged. "The idea never appealed to me. Anyway, back on topic. What did you think of Riku?"

"Which one was that?"

"The silver haired one."

"Ooh, he looked good. Had a nice dark feel to him, too… Wait, _he's _supposed to be my compensation?"

"What's wrong?"

"Well I'm not saying he didn't catch my eye, and I'll probably have fun with him even if I don't get him under the covers, but I don't think he'd be enough to pay me back for one of _your_ favors."

"You don't even know what it is yet."

"Enlighten me."

/

After a brief trek through Betwixt and Between the group of six arrived at the other end of Hong's portal, which instantly closed behind them. After scanning their surroundings the Destiny Island trio realized that Hong had led them not only a ways away from Silk Tower but also to the opposite end of it.

"Is this really far enough?" Sora asked.

Hong nodded. "Don't worry, they won't be able to find us here before Odd shows up."

"What makes you so sure he'll come here?"

"Like I said, I know him," she sighed. "He'd do this back when we were still see- I mean hanging out together. He'd run off in one direction away from the reporters and journalists only to warp himself to the other end of the city once he was out of their sight. They still haven't figured out his trick yet, though I can't really blame them."

"Why?" Kairi asked. "What makes him so uncatchable?"

"Actually, you've failed to mention this to us as well," Aoi stated. "I am rather curious."

"As am I," Vert added.

"Well, he's got his own unique portal that only he can create, something different from the Corridors of Darkness," Hong explained. "It functions similarly but can't be tracked, at least not by anything I know of. It's given him a status as the 'unicorn of the journalism world' because it's been impossible for anyone to get an interview with him."

"What's so unique about this portal of his?" Riku asked.

"Um, how should I explain this?" She furrowed her brow and thought for a moment before answering. "It's dark, even by the standards of the Realm of Darkness. I really don't know how else to describe it."

"Sounds kinda creepy…" Kairi stated, a slight chill going down her back.

"I guess." She sighed before continuing. "Well, we've probably still got some time before he shows up and takes you three on his little tour, so I guess if want to ask us some questions now would be the time."

"Actually, before we came here, weren't you saying something about how all the reporters stay away from Arachnus?"

"Ah, yes. Well, you see, Master Arachnus can be seen as very intimidating, unnerving even, to those who are unfamiliar with him," Vert explained. "I'm sure you had the same feeling when you first encountered our master." The three nodded in response. "You also saw how… 'expressive' his outbursts of anger can become. Though it has almost never happened you can likely guess that word of the spectacles of his temper would spread like wildfire. As such, our master is as feared as he is respected."

"Which reminds me, what kind of ruler is he? Like a king or something?" Riku asked.

"I suppose it would be most accurate to describe his rule as one of despotism."

"What now?" Sora asked.

"I the closest word would be 'dictator'," Aoi explained. "Arachnus rules absolutely with no competition or limits to his power. His decree is law, and he may change it at any time he wishes."

"Um, that kinda sounds like sort of rule of an oppressive leader," Kairi stated, a look of slight disturbance on her face.

"As Master is well aware of. Over the course of his considerably long lifetime our master has paid close attention to the history of worlds and the people therein and understands how people tend to react when certain events and conditions are presented to them. As such he knows well that citizens tend to be uncomfortable with rulers who have the power to whatever they want. To compensate for this Master Arachnus has limited himself in his execution of power." The three friends gave her a questioning look so she decided to elaborate. "What I mean is that although he has no restrictions on his power Master Arachnus has instead decided to limit his own power. Aside from normal laws against theft and such the only major law that has been decreed by our Master is not to reveal this world's location to anyone who does not have an adequate amount of control of the Darkness. Even then, when one is discovered and is being considered for admittance we are sent personally to evaluate their moral standings."

"And Odd passed?" Sora asked in disbelief.

"I think you're a little too harsh on him, Sora," Hong replied. "Emphasis on 'little', but actually you've raised an interesting point."

"I don't get it."

"I mean that we _didn't_ evaluate him. Or Roonika, who was with him. No, they _found _this world."

"What! How!" the three shouted in unison.

"I thought you couldn't get anywhere using the Corridors of Darkness unless you been there before or at least know where the world your looking for is!" Riku stated in exasperation.

"It's because of that bizarre portal I told you about before. If he doesn't have a destination it will instead warp him to any random world, whether he's been there or not."

"So that's how it works?" Aoi stated in surprise.

"Hey, it used to be worse. It use to be anywhere in the _universe_."

"Whuh?"

"Hi there."

"GAH!" Kairi jumped away in surprise, stunned to find Odd was now standing right behind her. "Goddamnit, don't do that!"

"I'll tell ya, there were a few times where I ended up stepping out right into the space between the worlds. Whoo boy, never want to do _that _again!" he continued, seemingly oblivious to her reaction.

"NOONE CARES!" the trio shouted.

Hong groaned. "So how long had you been there?"

"Oh about as soon as you came out of that portal. I would've waited longer, but I didn't want you tell them _all _of my secrets."

"Oh really?" she aksed, a grin forming up on her face.

"Yeah. _I _want to tell them! At my own pace, of course."

Hong's grin disappeared as she sighed. She had hopped that she finally had some sort of blackmail on him. She looked at him again and noticed he was wearing what could be most closely called his "signature outfit." Each piece of clothing was customized and designed _by_ him _for _him, as he was arrogant enough to believe that he deserved an outfit that no one else had. First was a pair of black slacks that had the word "DEVIANT" written in white lettering and in a font that looked as thought it had been carved with a knife stitched to the outside of the left leg. The ends of the pants covered the top plain of dull black military style boots. Covering his chest was a dark grey T-shirt extending downward far enough to cover the belt line of his pants. On the front were two black curving lines that coiled together to form a downward facing fleur de lis. The lines led back around over his shoulders, but were hidden by the jacket her wore on top. The jacket was black and cut at the front so that it couldn't be buttoned or zipped together, making sure the shirt underneath was constantly exposed. Starting from the shoulders and leading to the back was a continuation of the design on the front, two curving dark grey lines that joined together at the center. Instead of becoming a fleur de lis the design was that of a cartoonish looking skull with angelic wings on either side of it and a halo above. Extending from the mouth downward was a forked tongue that ran all the way to the end of the jacket, which extended all the way to his ankles. She knew that the design was exactly the same on the back of his shirt. The jacket sleeves extended past his wrists all the way to the base of his thumbs, covering the top of plain black gloves. She had no idea much munny he had spent to create this outfit but knew that it was by no means cheap. She laughed inwardly thinking about how much he had spent to make himself look like some sort of wannabee thug.

"Well alrighty then! It's time to trek! The night is young, and so am I! Well, I guess you are too, but that's not the point here."

"Oh lord, just shut up already," Sora muttered.

"Ok then, let's go!" Odd shouted just before turning on his heel and walking away from the group.

"Why isn't he hiding his identity?" Kairi asked to whomever would answer. "If he attracts that amount of attention normally won't that be bad for us trying to remain hidden?"

"No doubt where he's taking you he's a regular, so the crowd won't go as crazy over there," Hong answered. "Don't worry, he may be incredibly irritating, but he's not an idiot."

"Hey, short stacks! Come on, let's go!" Odd shouted, several yards away already. Riku and Kairi sighed and walked towards him, but Sora stayed behind for a moment.

"Hong?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"What's he really like? I mean, our first impression of him was pretty damn bad and everything up to this point has pretty much proven he's a pain, but it seems like everyone who knows him better than us seems to think he's not, you know, evil or anything. So, I mean, what kind of person is he really?"

"Go with him. You'll find out soon enough." And with that answer all three of the maids vanished through the Corridors of Darkness.

"Yo Spiky! You comin' or what?"

Sora sighed and headed towards Odd and his friends.

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"I'm doing a little match making again tonight," he explained.

"Ah, another one for your collection," she said knowingly.

"'_Private mental _collection,'" he corrected.

"Of course. And, who this time?"

"A spiky-haired warrior and his crush," he answered, grinning ear to ear.

"Ah, then the two of them really are together, like all the buzz said."

"Well, if the buzz says _every_ possibility then they're bound to be right."

"So what's the problem? You've never needed me or anyone else for that before."

"I need you to get Riku away from them so I can get to work. I've managed to get the three of them to follow me around town, but I've made a bad impression with them so he won't leave them alone so easily. That's where you come in."

"You want me to seduce him away from the other two?"

"You can do whatever you want, so long as you don't hurt him in any way. All I need is for you to get him away from the other two, at least for a few hours, so I can really start working my magic."

She furrowed her brow as she considered whether or not it was worth the trouble to help her old friend with his little scheme. After some thought she answered, "Where do we meet?"

He grinned back and said, "I'm feeling like karaoke tonight."

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**Damn, wassup! Been a while, huh? Well, a four-month wait for the next chapter isn't as bad as a one year one, huh? Anyway, it's really late right now, so I'm afraid I don't have much to say. All I can say is that for the moment I'm not having any problems with writer's block, so assuming my schedule stays open enough I'll be getting to the next chapter soon. Lates!**


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